The Forces We Carry
by Elcyion Pitye
Summary: Squalphie, side Seiftis. As if their growing feelings for each other weren't enough, Squall, Selphie, and the others have to face anarchists and forces beyond their knowledge. IN THE MIDDLE OF REWRITES FOR FIRST HALF.
1. Prologue: Selphie's Website: UPDATED!

**Disclaimers:** _Final Fantasy VIII and its characters are the property of Square-Enix. Character designs are by Tetsuya Nomura. I own the story and the characters that are obviously new and made up._

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**Maybe It Could Work**_**  
by Elcyion Pitye**_

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**0. Selphies Website... UPDATED!**

_Hey everyone! It's me, Selphie! I think I should update you all about ... well, everything! Tee-hee! _

_Okay, so after the defeat of Ultimecia, we had this awesome party in celebration of it! It was fun! Lots of yummy food, lots of laughter, sparkling cider in little champagne glasses (aren't those called flutes or something? Quisty would know... I think...), and, of course, relief from the super stressful times that was the Second Sorceress War! Oooh, so epic. _

_Anyway, I caught much of the super awesome action of the party with my video camera! Hah! I taped some iiiinteresting stuff... _

_Hehehehe, blackmail... This means you guys better be nice to me or this stuff gets uploaded and STREAMED ON MY SITE! :D_

_Okay, okay, enough of that. I better tell you about what's been up since then._

_We're heroes! We saved the world! That, in turn, gave us celebrity status. We had non-stop interviews with the press, fans wanting our autographs, and EVEN MERCHANDISE FOR EVERYONE TO BUY! Who wants to wear a special edition Selphie Tilmitt shirt, hm? I know you do! Some of the money made goes to repairing damage all over the world, namely my beloved Trabia Garden! Go go go!_

_Everything, like all the attention, got tiring after a while, but hey, we're at least HERE telling the story and not stuck in that weirdo time compression stuff!_

_As for all of us individually..._

_Irvine, a.k.a., my favoritest Irvy in the world was already a student at G-Garden, so he could transfer here to continue his training for SeeD. Rinoa wants to be one, too, but she's actually too old (by two years!) to even apply as a student! Major sadness there, but Headmaster Cid had seen enough of our ordeal to let her register and train for SeeD! Woo-hoo!... _

_. .  
_

Within the third floor office of the Headmaster of Balamb Garden stood Rinoa Heartilly, who did her best at saluting to a seated Cid Kramer.

Edea Kramer, his wife, stood to the side of his desk. She looked on with a smile, proud to include the young raven-haired girl as one of her own alongside the other heroes of the Second Sorceress War, her friends and her boyfriend Squall Leonhart. She also figured that the brown-haired commander was the one who taught Rinoa how to salute like a true SeeD.

"Thank you, sir!" Rinoa declared enthusiastically, perhaps a little too peppy in her tone of voice. It couldn't be helped, however. She was truly excited about attending Garden, especially at being something that was considered an oxymoron. A sorceress who wanted to become SeeD. It was something to go into history books.

"It was nothing at all, Miss—excuse me—Cadet Heartilly," Cid replied from behind his desk, giving her a broad grin. "Now go on and see your friends. It's vacation; class won't be in session for a while."

"Um, one more thing..." Rinoa looked at the floor and asked meekly, "I know the rules said no pets in the Garden..."

"... That dog of yours?" he guessed, raising an eyebrow.

"Angelo is important to my fighting skills. I need to train with him to fight."

"Well, of course," he replied hesitantly, not too fond of having an animal in his decently clean facility. But what choice was there? Angelo _was_ a vital part of her combat repertoire. "Just keep the dog out of trouble."

Rinoa clapped her hands with joy. "Awesome! Thanks, sir!" She saluted again and ran off merrily to the elevator.

"Plenty of Garden rules need to be redone, no?" Edea said softly after the raven-haired teen disappeared through the elevator doors.

. .

_... In fact, Rin and Irvy didn't even hafta take any of the pre-SeeD exams; they could've gotten automatic SeeDships (!), but those two really wanted proper training. That's cool for them! And yes, Headmaster Cid is still... headmaster. Tee-hee. He's in charge of most of the stuff concerning non-SeeD... stuff. I should work on vocabulary, huh? Haha!_

_And since he's not doing a lot with SeeD missions, guess who is? Squall Leonhart, of course! Poor thing. The first thing Headmaster gave him was a high stack of papers to look over. All early applications for SeeD... I guess a lot of people got inspired. Squall, don't be picky, okay?_

_Who else, who else..._

_Oh, Quisty has her instructor license back! The headmaster said that she has "shown all her valor, dignity, and skill during the incident to prove that" she deserves it. According to her, those were the exact words he used. Yeah, as if I would ever use words like valor in real life!_

_Zell and I haven't done much. We're still SeeDs of the highest rank (A, baby! Yeah!), but we were told that we were gonna be around helping instructors when were not busy. Plus, I have extracurricular activities (which is a big hint to you all that YOU SHOULD HELP OUT WITH THE FESTIVAL). _

_This is all too good to be true, huh? Like Irvine and Rinoa joining us and Quisty getting her license back just like that. Lotsa happy ending stuff. Well, being world heroes has its advantages. :P_

_Anywayyyy._

_Fujin and Raijin came back to B-Garden without many problems. There was still talk behind their backs about that or whatever, but what the hey. We forgave Matron for doing what she did. It wasn't her fault. She was a pawn of Ultimecia, just like how Fujin and Raijin just followed their friend out of loyalty to Seifer, who was a pawn of the sorceress. Yeah, stuff like that. _

_So basically, the only person we shouldn't be able to forgive is Ultimecia. And now she's as dead as a doornail thanks to us! :DDDD_

_But speaking of Seifer, I know he's spent time in prison, but not before giving a public apology to the world about his actions as the Knight... _

_. .  
_

Two armed D-District prison guards, stoic and stiff, flanked a handcuffed Seifer as he trudged to the platform that overlooked his massive audience in Deling City.

Well, what a way to ruin a fun, relaxing day after the Sorceress War. What were they thinking, taking Seifer away from Fujin and Raijin and the dock like that? He was happy for the first time since "it" happened. But then came some Galbadians suddenly arresting him and dragging him away. They forced him overnight in a prison cell without warning. Was that even legal? Well, if he was one of the biggest enemies in the world during the war, then it probably didn't even matter to them. No one was on his side at the moment.

So there he was, a day after the end of the war and the end of the odd chaos that was time compression. Seifer blinked instinctively from the onslaught of camera flashbulbs. He almost felt like a celebrity. Almost. Except instead of adoring fans clamoring for him, he had plenty of angry, yelling mobs of people calling him names and giving him death threats. How the ex-knight was able to keep an expressionless face in front of them, he didn't know.

One of the guards adjusted the microphone on the podium for Seifer. The other grunted an urge for him to get it over with.

Rude much?

For the first time in years, Seifer was scared. He had never felt so small. They all hated him, every single one of those faces in the masses of people there. He never minded it before, because he liked people fearing him. But now it wasn't fear, it was just animosity. He didn't think about it until now, but he knew they wanted him dead. It felt more awful than he imagined, especially when he remembered everything he has done in the past year. Hell, in his entire lifetime, from his harmless childish bullying at the orphange to threatening the life of Rinoa, someone he once cared about, by evilly handing her over to a dangerous being without a second thought.

Why did he have to be so pig-headed? Why was he "problematic" enough to hold President Deling at the edge of his gunblade? To let his bewitched matron give him his "dream," a delusion of grandeur and power? To have his only friends, Fujin and Raijin, get caught up in the mess that followed?

So many why's, but Seifer didn't expect an answer from Hyne. He didn't even expect forgiveness. But at least he had this moment. It was probably the only way he can make redemption.

He wrung his clammy handcuffed hands behind him, taking in the angry and expectant stares from below. He took note of all the cameras broadcasting his worldwide appearance, recording the belittlement of the biggest bully douchebag in the world. By now, he had lost every sense of pride he had ever used as his facade. He was a monster in those dark times, but now, he was a coward, groveling at the feet of those he pushed away in his past, the ones he hurt and tortured and lived to tell about it, the relatives and loved ones of those who perished, the mentors he could've had if he let them lead him.

It all hit him hard, right there on the platform above Deling City. He couldn't be the arrogant, cocky Seifer anymore. _(An epiphany? Is that what it's called?)_ he wondered to himself.

Gulping, Seifer finally leaned into the microphone. "I..." he began, his voice squeaking. The crowd's shouts and cries didn't quiet down any.

_(They won't listen.)_

"I realize now... what guilty actions I have taken in the recent past," he said solemnly, continuing despite the noise. "And even though it was Sorceress Ultimecia's fault, I accept the blame." Seifer closed his eyes briefly and then returned to his silent audience. "I'm... sorry. For everything. For Trabia, for the Gardens, for turning back on my home and the people in it... testing their patience..."

_(Shit...) _His voice had cracked at the last word. He didn't expect himself to come to tears. Whilst talking, he realized that he couldn't go back home to his Garden anymore. Not when he was stuck in jail for Hyne knows how long. But even if he weren't, no one would want him back. That reality hit him hard, but he understood that. He didn't want to, but it was true. Knight in exile. Truly alone.

"... I'm sorry... for... everything," Seifer continued, swallowing the lump in his throat. He really was sorry. He never felt shame before this moment, and it hurt like a silver bullet through this heart. "Ill never ever pull a stunt like that again... nor will I ever go against authority for my own selfish reasons... Through this experience, I have changed for the better." _(What are you saying, Almasy? No one cares about your fucking feelings!)_ he yelled to himself.

_(They want you dead.)_

He wanted to end this damned speech, but couldn't think of anything right to conclude it with. "Uh... and I hope that your lives will be filled with nothing but peace from now on. Thank you." He turned away from the podium. _(Lame, Almasy, lame...)_ he reprimanded himself.

The guards led him away, muttering to each other as if he weren't there.

"So that's the great Seifer Almasy, eh?" The one on the left remarked, snickering.

"Yeah, the so-called 'knight' who quivered in his boots in front of the entire planet," the one on the right replied. They shared a quiet laugh.

Seifer gritted his teeth angrily. He had the biggest desire to hit them both in the face, but obviously that would look really bad, especially after his heartfelt apology to the world. But that wasn't going to grant him another chance, anyway. The guards' words were probably a reflection of how everyone else in the public felt about him.

. .

_... but after all that, Matron eventually bailed him out, like sometime before classes started again. Yup, you heard right, folks. How? I have no idea. He was supposed to be executed for attempting to kill the president of Deling, or some really heavy punishment... but, oh well. He was lucky. In his defense, President Deling was no good, anyway. Tee-hee. :P_

_Matron and Seifer both went through pretty much the same thing with the public, with Matron being possessed and Seifer corrupted and brainwashed. I guess Matron was more easily forgiven because she was, ya know, the headmaster's wife, among other things._

_I saw the broadcast of his apology. He was reluctantly forgiven, so they said afterwards. Even though it was good of him to do what he did, he still got all these negative responses. But knowing Seifer, he accepted them and possibly brushed them off, knowing he had to live with all that regret and pain for a long time. I'm such a softie for big meanies!_

_What else happened since I last updated? Ooooh, I remember now. Seifer came back as a student a few months later! Seifer was supposed to be expelled, but you know, knowing what our past was, with our "family" at the orphanage, Cid didn't want to hurt him even more, which I guess was all right. Trabia's bombing was hard on me, but it's easy for me to put things behind me, especially when the other party's willing to apologize and put it behind them too. But man! When Headmaster lifted the ban, Xu was hopping mad! It was kinda funny seeing her face all red like a tomato (sorry, Xu...)._

_You should've seen Seifer's face (and ours!) when he first came! I felt for the guy, I have to admit. He looked frightened, you could see it in his eyes, but his stride was still that same over-confident one._

_The gang (well, except for Squall. He was doing paperwork for... I dunno, something... that workaholic! ;P) and I were standing near the directory at the time, and when we spotted him with Matron, we all froze..._

_. .  
_

Seifer walked like he always did in that snobby fashion (which he guessed was something he couldn't really help or get rid of), but he still looked like a scared little child hiding behind his mother, trying not to be seen as he strode in right behind a complacent Edea.

_(What am I doing here?)_ Seifer pondered, a little pissed as the two of them approached the group, which consisted of Quistis, Selphie, Irvine, Rinoa, and Zell, at the directory. _(Matron's the only one who wants me here. This is a waste of time...)_

Irvine Kinneas was the first to spot Edea. He tipped his hat, keeping his eyes away from his former enemy. "Matron," he greeted quietly.

"I guess you have figured out why I'm here," Edea replied. She gestured to the blond young man standing behind her.

Quistis Trepe took in a breath. "Oh. Will he be staying here long?" She didn't seem pleased.

"What's he doin' here?" Irvine asked warily.

"Maybe he got accepted back here," Selphie replied. "'Cause Fujin and Raijin are here, too." There wasn't much malice in her voice. Whether she didn't hold a grudge are was still angry on the inside, no one could tell. Seifer definitely couldn't.

"Ask him yourself," Edea said pointedly. She gently shoved Seifer in front of her.

_(Erk,)_ he groaned inwardly. He stared back at his matron in bewilderment. She simply smiled, and silently waved goodbye to the former orphanage residents and the sorceress before making her way to the elevators, presumedly to join her husband in his office. _(Thanks a lot, Matron.) _Now Seifer was left to fend for himself. Fine then. He crossed his arms and scowled, almost like Squall would. He was prepared for the blow-ups at his face. He'll take it like a man.

"Look at that," Quistis commented, smiling a little. "Poor little Seifer's petrified..." She didn't sound sympathetic. In fact, her tone was mocking. What did he expect, a kiss and a hug from his former teacher? Her patience to come right back to take him under her wing?

He tried not to roll his eyes. _(Yeah, yeah. Mature, Quisty.) _Whatever Quistis had to say didn't have too much of an effect on him. Not because he was, well, Seifer the Bully, and therefore wasn't supposed to care, but because he has heard worse. Much worse.

Rinoa was busy trying to hold an extremely angry Zell Dincht back from beating him up. "I'm gonna pulverize that damn son-of-a-!" he sputtered.

"Zell!" Rinoa protested. "Cool it!"

"We're not here to fight!" Selphie exclaimed. She held her hands up in peace signs. "He came in peace!"

He stopped and stared at her for a moment, as if not understanding. "... Peace?... What the hell, Selph? He tried to frickin' kill us!" He continued his frenzy, making it even harder for the poor sorceress. "Seifer!" he sputtered lividly. "Haven't you done enough?"

"I can't hold on much longer!" Rinoa groaned, still trying to restrain the martial artist. "Help!"

Quistis finally took action and whacked Zell's shoulder hard with a gloved hand. "Calm down!" she scolded. Zell looked at her and then sulked a little, sticking his hands in his back pockets.

_(What control,) _Seifer thought with a slight raise of an eyebrow. No wonder Quistis was an able instructor.

Now that the fighting mad SeeD member was in check, Rinoa, always pretty cheerful, turned and greeted him openly, despite what he had done to her in the past. He had to admire her ability to move on and not hold grudges. "Hey, Seif," she said, smiling. "How are you? Are you gonna be here the rest of the time? Cid let you back?"

Seifer half-smiled at his ex-girlfriend's efforts. "Pretty much..."

"Hey..." Selphie realized, gazing at Seifer. She, also, was a pretty cheerful character, but in a much more sugar-induced way than Rinoa. And ever the optimist, in a naïve, too-easily-trusting way. Funny, Seifer didn't really notice her when she first transferred to Balamb. But from what he's heard, she was crazy when it came to extracurricular activities. Thinking about the way she spoke up, he had to frown. The tone in her voice sounded like one of those crazy Selphie times, all right. "What?" he dared to ask.

"You have to volunteer for the Garden Festival!" she cheered, grabbing his hand excitedly with both of hers. "No one else wanted to!" She pouted meaningfully at the rest of her friends.

_(Oh, for fuck's sake...)_ Seifer whipped his hand out of her grasp. "No." Not in hell.

Irvine glared at him. "Hey, be nice to Sefie."

Selphie elbowed her cowboy friend playfully. "Hey, be nice to Seifer," she told him in the same fashion. "I think he'll be fine once we give him a break."

The Galbadian frowned doubtfully at her, but shut up.

Oh. Those two. Seifer should've figured. Irvine and Selphie were best friends back in the orphanage. "My apologies..." he murmured coolly. Then he added impulsively, "You two dating?"

At first, all five of them stared at him in shock, actually surprised that Seifer was trying to start regular conversation. And then, Irvine actually chuckled, breaking the still silence. "C'mon, you know us. Were partners in crime, but not partners in bed." He grinned devilishly. "But I wouldn't mind a taste of-"

"Gah!" Selphie interrupted. "Irvine!" She was blushing furiously.

Surprisingly, this was an astonishment to everyone else as well. Apparently, Seifer wasn't the only one who misunderstood the two's relationship with each other. "You aren't dating?" Rinoa asked, jaw dropped slightly.

"I thought for sure you guys would be," Quistis remarked, tucking some golden blonde hair behind her ear.

Irvine shrugged. "Hey, I can't stay steady with someone it if therere so many lovely ladies around." He wiggled his eyebrows at Quistis, who rolled her eyes.

Selphie had an unreadable expression on her face, which was strange for Seifer to see, but her face immediately changed to a beaming grin. "He thinks he can bag anyone in Garden, but that's total bull, of course. Tee-hee."

Irvine gasped in mock hurt. "You take that back!"

Zell snorted.

Another voice chimed in suddenly. "Why is everyone gathered aroun—oh..."

Squall Leonhart, the commander of the SeeDs at Balamb Garden, had been approaching the group, a large envelope tucked under his arm, before freezing in his footsteps. Imagine his surprise when he found his biggest rival and most disliked enemy, after Ultimecia herself, with his girlfriend and their friends, acting like he belonged.

Seifer knew Squall wasn't glad to see him at all, judging from that angry look on his face. The blond, of course, being naturally smug when it came to his rival, returned the same glare, but airily so.

"Squall!" Rinoa exclaimed happily, hoping her cheerfulness would put him in a good mood. She ran up to him and gave him a hug. Her boyfriend returned it gently, his face unchanging. Nope, her approach didn't work.

"They told me there was a new student here, but they didn't tell me it'd be you," Squall said coldly. He shoved the envelope in Seifer's hands. The gesture was a little too hard and a little too menacing for Seifer's taste. He didn't like it at all. His snobbish, but rather harmless front fell, revealing his inner arrogance and short-tempered nature. The big bully side of him.

"Hey, be nice," Rinoa pleaded softly to her boyfriend. "It's been hard on him..."

"Hard on _him_?" the commander echoed quietly. "What the hell did we do, then?"

"Just let me go to my fucking dorm and I'll be outta your face," Seifer growled at Squall, fed up.

Using all the patience she had, Quistis put a hand on Seifer's shoulder and changed the subject. "Well, if you're training for SeeD again," she started, "then they probably put you back in my homeroom, but check your envelope just to be sure. Class starts on Monday. And Garden uniform fittings are tomorrow..." She led him away from the group, treating him as if he were truly a new student. He silently thanked her for not being as sour as Squall was.

The older gunblade user dare himself to give them one last look, craning his neck. He found the commander still leering at him, his eyes telling him he didn't belong back at Garden. It didn't last long, however, since he walked away quickly, back to the elevator where he originally came from.

Rinoa followed, giving Seifer one last look. "Squaaaall, come on!" she was heard saying before the doors closed on them.

The others, Zell, Irvine, and Selphie, looked at each other awkwardly. After a few words, they too, dispersed.

"Promise to be good this time around?" Quistis queried, catching his attention again as they walked further away, into the North Block.

Seifer snapped his head toward her, his sharp green orbs incidentally catching and holding her crystal blue. "I will," he replied. "I think I can learn to follow orders... again." He hoped she could see the sorrow in his eyes, the sadness and determination. He wanted her (and everyone else's) grudge to melt away. For once, he gave her a genuine smile. Not a hateful sneer or a haughty smirk, but a real, well-intentioned upward curve of the lips. _(Yeah, I think I can do it this time around,)_ he told himself confidently.

He thought she saw her blush a little under his gaze, but it could be the lighting in the room that made it seem that way. "Heh, you know," she spoke up, rather teasingly, "you'd be a lot better-looking if you didn't look so mean all the time."

He smirked. Oh, so he wasn't seeing things. "You like that, don't you, Quisty?" He pretended to rub his chin in thought. "I might have to do that more often for you."

Her jaw dropped. Clearly, she wasn't expecting that sort of reaction out of him. "I, uh," she began, looking confused as to why she suddenly turned flustered. "I, well, I'll walk you to your room." She exhaled heavily as soon as the words came out, calming herself down. "I don't want your roommate to freak when he sees your infamous face. I'm sorry to say that you'll have yet to win the forgiveness of your peers."

He shrugged. "Bring it, Quisty." He offered another grin that he knew she liked so much, and went on into the dorm area. He felt her gaping at his back, not in disdain or anything negative, but in simple incredulity.

"Now you're just mocking me," she said dubiously, finally catching up to him.

. .

_... so we all dispersed after Squall and Seifer glared at each other silly. Awkward... _

_I went with Irvy into the Training Center and badgered him about ideas for the Ball (I'm in charge of that too, so I'D APPRECIATE HELP FOR THAT, TOO, hint hint), but he couldn't come up with any at the moment. I was about to ask Zell again if he wanted to join the Festival Committee, but he dashed off in the middle of my sentence! He was mumbling about what else? _

_Hot dogs! Mmmm~_

_So that's why he wasn't as hyper that day... Someday, I'm going to steal those away from the cafeteria and hide them in my room. Then he won't be able to get away from me, that stupid-face :( I can see it now. Every time he helps me at the SeeD Ball and/or the Garden Festival, I'll reward him with a hot dog. Hehehehe._

_Whooosh, well, I'm tired, and this was a mega long entry! How long have I been sitting here, huh? Oh, well. I'll end it right now and update later. Booyaka!_

_P.S. - JOIN THE GARDEN FESTIVAL! PLEEEEAAASE? _

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**Author's Notes:** _Welcome to the re-write! I know you guys have enjoyed my writing, including my beginning chapters, but it's still very slightly cringe-worthy to me, so I took the opportunity to re-vamp some of it, making it meatier and more descriptive. Hopefully it'll be a great improvement._

_See you all soon!_


	2. I: The Orphanage Gang, Plus Three

**Author's Notes:** _It's kinda weird that I'm writing a fanfic that takes place after the game when I haven't beaten it yet... but I'm in Ultimecia's Castle!! And I'm very muched spoiled for the rest of it!! I haven't actually seen things like the ending, but I know what they're about. Oh, well._

**Disclaimer:** Property of Square-Enix, etc. The only thing that's mine here is the story. I've also quoted from the game in some parts (which you might recognize), so those aren't mine.

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**Maybe It Could Work**

_**by Elcyion Pitye**_

_**

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**_

**I. The Orphanage Gang, Plus Three**

Seifer stood by the door of his classroom on the second floor, waiting for Instructor Trepe to arrive. He was an hour early for the first day of class. Why? He wasn't sure. Hah, imagine that! Seifer wasn't sure about something. He was usually so cocky. Overconfident, according to faculty and fellow students.

_(Or maybe I want to get this over with,)_ he thought to himself with a frustrated sigh.

No, no. None of those. He was... scared. Seifer realized, that maybe if he was the first one in his seat, he won't have to enter the room with a bunch of hateful glares his way. He didn't want anymore of that ridicule. He learned his lesson. He really did. Now, all he had to do was redeem himself, and hope that it would be enough to ease everyone's tension and to prove he wasn't as bad as he looked. This time around, Seifer wanted to work hard and become a SeeD. And he _will_ succeed. Even if it killed him.

Seifer slumped against the wall a little and closed his eyes, wishing he had slept in a little more. Unfortunately, his rest didn't last long as he vaguely heard heavy footsteps coming his way. He heard them stop in front of them, but he was too tired to see who it was.

"Seifer Almasy," said a familiar, almost taunting voice. "Up early, I see."

_(Puberty Boy!)_ The blond's eyes shot open, finding the brown-haired, steel-eyed commander looking at him with narrowed eyes. It seemed as though the tables have turned. Now Squall looked like the bully.

"The fuck you want?" Seifer asked rudely. "It's too fucking early for your shit."

Squall glowered at him and grabbed him by the shirt, slamming his back into the door. "I'm the commander, Almasy," he hissed. "Show some respect or I'll get your ass kicked out of here. And I won't let Matron or Headmaster get in the way."

"Oh, yeah?" The blond's voice was venomous.

"Yeah," Squall rasped icily.

"... Yeah?" Seifer was running out of things to say.

"... Yeah."

"Um... yeah?"

"... Uh, yeah." Squall wasn't one for scary threats.

They both paused for a moment, staring each other down. There was an awkward pause, as if both boys realized how ridiculous their argument was.

Suddenly, Seifer spotted the crinkle in Squall's eyes, then discovered that emotionless, stoic Squall Leonhart was genuinely smiling. Seifer pushed him away and doubled over in laughter. It was so funny seeing a toothy Leonhart grin.

A short while later, Squall joined in the laughter fest, which made Seifer guffaw even harder. The two sat and laughed together like old (perhaps drunken) friends, not noticing Quistis and Selphie appearing in the hallway.

"Squall? Seifer?" Quistis asked, an eyebrow raised. "What happened? Fighting over who laughs the funniest?"

At this point, the two couldn't stop.

Next to the instructor, Selphie suppressed a giggle, for it was a sight to see two normally grumpy guys, rolling on the floor, laughing like hyenas.

When they finally sobered up, Quistis unlocked her classroom door and let everyone in. Selphie sat in the front study panel. Squall stood with Quistis at her desk, both talking in a very teacher-like manner. Seifer took his seat in the back.

"Ready for the first day?" Quistis asked him when she was done talking with Squall. She was expecting some sarcastic remark from the old Seifer, but now... she wasn't sure.

He did a fake salute. "More than ever, Instructor," he replied good-naturedly.

Quistis noticed that his ambience seemed bright and positive, so unlike before. She smiled softly. "Good," she responded.

That was when Rinoa came bounding in, a big smile plastered on her face. She was obviously excited at being in Quistis' class. She hugged the closest thing to the door, which happened to be her boyfriend Squall, who looked like he was suffocating from her grasp. Not too far behind Rinoa was Zell, who looked warily at Seifer before entering.

Selphie logged off and moved out of the study panel. She jumped up at seeing more of her friends in the room. "Rinny! Zelly!" she called affectionately.

Selphie, never a quiet one, briefly caught the instructor's attention as the younger SeeD spoke up, but again, the blonde's attention turned back to the ex-knight. He was watching the others with an unreadable look on his face. Quistis couldn't help but be intrigued by what he could be thinking, but of course, as a caring teacher. _(Nothing more, obviously,)_ she assured herself, although she shouldn't have a reason to tell herself that. If she thought any weird things, it would give her a headache.

Unexpectedly, Seifer caught her gaze and tried to grin, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

She smiled back, her clear blue eyes beckoning him to join the others, who otherwise seemed unaware of his brooding, wallflower-like presence.

That is, until Zell finally turned toward the back of the classroom.

"Seifer!" Zell cried in dismayed acknowledgement, immediately in fighting stance. He looked dangerous.

Sort of.

This was Zell, after all. He just lacked much intimidation to the rest of the gang, even with that tattoo on his face.

Seifer looked like he was debating with himself, whether he should join them, or stay put. He laid his eyes on Quistis', as if for approval.

She blinked in surprise. _(Well, that's new...)_ she thought. It wasn't anything bad, but unusual. She expected sneers and smirks; taunting looks that annoyed her in an instant. But that look he gave her... he seemed almost lost.

With that, she grinned softly and gave a slight nod of the head.

Seifer smiled for once. _Smiled._ She was sure Zell saw it, and it was possible the others saw it. Scowling, mean, bully Seifer smiled genuinely at her. The instructor hoped to Hyne that he would do it more often in the near future.

_(Not because he looked handsome when he smiled,)_ she thought, and then quickly backtracked.

What was she thinking?

Meanwhile, Seifer, after he joined the others, quickly noticed that Zell was staring at him weirdly. The martial artist had stopped being defensive and just simply...

"Quit staring!" Seifer cried. "Are you gonna kiss me or something?!"

"Hell no!" Zell shot at him defensively. "Man! You're sick! I'm just wondering why you're nice!!" He looked a little frantic and disgusted at the same time, which just made him look hyper. "I never wanna kiss you!!" He swallowed conspicuously, as if fighting nauseous feelings.

"I just ate..." Squall murmured flatly, turning his head to the side. He apparently felt the same.

Rinoa giggled at him.

It was odd to Seifer. Why were these people being nice to him? Didn't they remember what he did? What he had said? What he had destroyed? If they were being fake, then they were pretty damn good actors, but he wasn't going to have this. Did they pity him? Seifer wasn't a fool. If these people, the students and former students he had grown up with had something to say, then it was better they said it to his face rather than talk shit about him behind his back.

It was during these thoughts that Fujin and Raijin entered the room, chattering away. Chattering as in Raijin saying something that provoked Fujin, causing her to kick him mercilessly in the shin and watch in mirth as her friend jumped up and down in pain, holding his leg.

They looked quizzically at the crowd of people. Even Squall was smiling a little.

"I didnt know there was a party, ya know?" Raijin broke in uncertainly.

"WHAT'S THIS?" asked the ever so soft-toned Fujin. She glanced at Seifer with her good eye, amused. "NEW FRIENDS?"

Seifer caught Quistis about to speak up for him, but he beat her to it. "No," he answered, firmly and loud enough to silence the rest of the group. "Far from it." It certainly brought down the mood, for instead of happy faces and bright smiles, there were looks of wariness and confusion. In Squall's case, it was a bitter anger, and in Zell's, a fighting-madness.

"What's your problem?" Squall ventured through gritted teeth. "Be lucky the girls are on your side."

"Why the hell are you guys being nice to me?!" Seifer blurted out. He looked as confused as he was irritated.

"Wha...?" Selphie murmured, staring at him puzzledly. Rinoa, Quistis, Fujin, and Raijin, had similar expressions.

"I killed people, I betrayed Balamb Garden, destroyed Trabia's, and turned Galbadia's against you guys!" he went on. "Don't tell me you forgave me for any of that!"

He was met with silence. Just as he suspected.

A set of boots clicked against the tiles, the owner of the shoes arriving just in time to hear the last of Seifer's confusedly angered words.

"I can't speak for all the others," drawled a smooth, lazy male voice. "But I sure as hell don't."

"The stetson hat," Seifer acknowledged, slowly turning to Irvine. "At least you're smart--"

"Shit, Almasy," Irvine said over him, joining the group. "There's nothin' more we can do but move on."

Quistis half-frowned and crossed her arms. "He's right, Seifer. What else do you want? You want to prove yourself, but you also want us to punish you? Is that it?" She looked at him, but didn't wait for a response and continued. "We can't do both." She pointed at herself, offering the former Disciplinary Committee member a sincere smile. "As for me, I forgive you. Well, better put, I'm not going to hold a grudge against you if you feel remorse. You've done a lot of damage, but you've learned your lesson, correct?"

Seifer gaped at her in poorly masked awe, a silent indication that she got through to him. It was moments like these that made the blonde woman glad that she was a teacher.

"HE DOES," Fujin said with a smirk. "JUST WON'T SAY IT. PRIDEFUL."

"Yeah, any lamebrain can see that!" Selphie exclaimed, ever the optimist. She went over and nudged the much taller cadet. "If it makes you feel any better, Seifer, I'll let you call me 'that messenger girl'!"

Seifer looked down at her, snapped out of his trance with the instructor's spiel. "Oh, come on," he remarked. He rolled his eyes. "Out of all the shit to--"

"I know exactly what you mean," the pixie-like Trabian interjected, suddenly a little serious. Anyone could tell that she hated somber subjects, and usually avoided them like the plague, but Seifer wasn't exactly the type to beat around the bush. "You really ruined my old home, you know." She half-smiled in an offer to not make the topic as heavy as it already was. "But you know me. I have to look up. If I don't, who else would? A lot of my friends at Trabia looked up to me as a pillar, know what I mean? I gotta be strong for all of them, even when I'm here instead of there." Her expression brightened slightly. "Therreeforreee.... I have no choice but to move on, like Irvy said!"

Zell let out a low whistle. "Dang, that was deep... even for Selphie..."

_(Yeah, that surprised me, too...)_ Seifer thought, scratching his head and looking away sheepishly. It gave him a slightly different perspective of the yellow-clad teen.

"Oh, geeeez!" Selphie laughed, giving Zell a light push. "I'm not all sunshine! You know this! Just like we know you're not all hot dogs!"

"Not all.... hot dogs?" Squall repeated wryly. He snorted, trying to hide the fact that he was actually...

"Sq-Squall?" Rinoa gasped. "Are you... laughing?"

He frowned immediately and coughed. "No."

"He's lying," Quistis remarked. "You should've seen him earlier. He was in a fitful of giggles. So was Seifer."

Everyone but Seifer, Quistis, Squall, and Selphie stared at their commander and the cadet with their jaws dropped.

"Giggling Squall..." Zell said to no one in particular. "Giggling Seifer..." He got himself into a round of laughter, whereas the others just stood there.

"Are you okay, ya know?" Raijin suddenly asked, wondering what got into him.

Zell shook his head and plopped down on the floor, still laughing.

"Wow," Seifer muttered with a smirk. "We got off track the--"

"Seifer," Rinoa suddenly cut in, and let out a short giggle when she noticed his annoyed expression. This was the third time he has been interrupted by somebody. "Sorry, I'll let you finish, but I just wanted to say that it could've been worse. The first sorceress war was probably the most damaging of all time."

"Of all time?" the ex-knight repeated, dubious.

"Yeah, well..." she said, in her usual coy but innocent manner. "My point is, no one's gonna lie about you doing a whole lot of bad things with Ultimecia and your Matron, but you know, you're paying your dues, right? Or will, anyway. Karma payback. We understand that." She gestured toward her boyfriend with her head. "Squall does, too, but he's like you. He won't say anything. And because of that... we can learn to accept you again. I mean, at least, I do. Definitely. We'll all be friends. Me and Selph will make sure of it!"

Seifer heaved a big sigh, looking at all everyone around him, looking at him expectantly. "Yeah, I heard you guys," he said, not able to look at any single person in the eye. He scratched the back of his neck nervously. ".... Thanks. I mean, really."

Squall sniffed. "Whatever."

Irvine smiled a little, the brim of his hat partially hiding his face.

Zell looked more optimistic now that he wouldn't be the butt of Seifer's constant taunting (or will he?), but his muscles never relaxed. No, he was going to continue to prepare himself... just in case.

Quistis felt a swell of something great; like something emotionally thrilling was about to happen. She could feel that this group would have, in the near future, a new bond unlike before. "Look at this," she couldn't help but speak up fondly. "The orphanage gang... closer than before..."

"Plus three," Rinoa added, obviously referring to Raijin, Fujin, and herself.

Raijin nodded civilly. He and Fujin seemed willing to accept the six friends if a member of their old Posse was.

"Woo-hoo!" Selphie exclaimed.

As it came closer for the first bell to signal the start of class, more students began filtering into the room. With the room becoming full with nearly every seat filled, it started to get too loud for Instructor Trepe to handle. "Okay, If you're not Selphie, Squall, or a student, leave!" she called over the noise. "If you are, keep it down! It's almost time!"

Zell sighed pathetically, being the only one who didn't belong there. "Maybe hot dogs will cheer me up." He, along with the friends of some of Quistis' other students, obediently left the room. As for the rest, the instructor found herself unlucky enough to recognize most of her new homeroom students as Trepies. Extreme ones, too. Weren't these the ones who held a secret Quistis Trepe convention not too long ago?

At last, the bell rang for the first day of class.

Rinoa took a seat in the front. Seifer, with his posse following him, was about to go to the back of the room again, but changed his mind. He pushed between Raijin and Fujin and sat in the terminal to the right of Rinoa.

"OKAY?" was all Fujin could say as she and the staff user followed him. "RINOA. STILL LIKES?" she tried to whisper in Raijin's ear.

"Ow, ya know..." was Raijin's reply, distancing himself from her.

"I heard that," Seifer sneered as he scooted over for Raijin to sit. Fujin took a seat to the left of Rinoa, who heard the whole thing but only smiled good-heartedly. Directly behind her was Irvine, who kept his hat on, tipped down. He was leaning against his terminal so he could be left in mystery, while at the same time, checked out the girls. Selphie was settled at the front of the room next to Squall, who tried to ignore the fact that Rinoa was making silly faces at him.

"Okay," Quistis said pleasantly in instructor-mode, coming up to her desk up front. "Welcome to my homeroom class! Im your instructor, Quistis Trepe--"

"Yay!" exclaimed Selphie.

Everyone stared at her. Quistis looked slightly peeved, but didn't say anything as she turned back toward the students.

"Shut up," Squall said evenly, his tone low. He glared at her.

Selphie just elbowed him playfully, ignoring him like a disobedient puppy.

Squall leered at her for a second...

And then elbowed back.

Selphie stuck her tongue out at him and nudged him again, quite enjoying the fact that he was starting to be more fun.

An elbow-nudge war commenced silently between the two, but the all-seeing instructor wasn't blind to the disruption, even though her back was to them for the majority of the time. Quistis looked at them meaningfully, hinting heavily with those irritated blue eyes.

They stopped. Selphie gave her an apologetic smile. Squall didn't do or say anything.

Quistis continued on. "And these two idiots over here are Commander Leonhart and Level A SeeD Selphie Tilmitt--"

("Great," Squall retorted quietly to Selphie. "She grouped me with the likes of you."

"Don't lie," Selphie whispered merrily. "You love it!"

"...." He faced front again, ignoring her.

Selphie snuck a glance at him. From the lack of tension on his usually serious face, she knew for sure he did. It made her smile.)

"--The Commander will briefly talk to you, like all the other classes, on what SeeD and your final SeeD examination will be about, and Selphie will accompany me in today's homeroom activities."

Selphie shifted her feet, watching with boredom as Quistis called Squall to take the stage and give the students some sort of pep talk. It wasn't that Squall was a terribly boring talker...

Nah. It was.

* * *

"I. Hate. Instructor. Cicero."

Zell looked at Seifer. "Huh. Already?" he asked.

The two boys were in the cafeteria for a lunch break. Zell had a large quota of hotdogs in front of him, not even adorned with condiments. Seifer, on the other hand, had an equally large lunch of a double cheeseburger, a personal-size pepperoni pizza, a large burrito, a big slice of chocolate cake, and a _Dollet Delite!_ (must have the exclamation point), a brand-new, orange-flavored carbonated beverage that's quickly gaining popularity.

"A four-hour detention for not wearing the uniform tomorrow? Yelling at me for no reason? A research project due next week on the breeding of those stupid Iron Giants?!" Seifer raged. "THE HELL?! My teachers weren't this shitty last year!"

"Do those even breed...?"

"The hell do I know?!"

Zell shoved a hot dog into his mouth. "Well," he said with a full mouth. "I had that asshole, too. It's gonna be one hell of a school year for you."

"Huh?" Seifer didn't understand a word he said, but then again, he wasn't even fully paying attention. He was too busy seething quietly.

Rinoa appeared with a small paper tray of chicken strips, a _Dollet Delite!, _and a library book under her arm. She looked weary, for she had the same previous class as Seifer.

"What monster did you get, Rin?" Seifer asked as soon as she sat down.

"Malboro," she answered, crinkling her nose. "Those things are so gross..." She set her library book, _The Monsters of Esthar_, down next to her, face down so she couldn't see the cover picture of gruesome monsters while she ate.

"Do you know who else has this lunch?" Zell asked, his mouth, once again, stuffed with hot dog.

Rinoa took a bite out of her chicken thoughtfully. "Well, Squall and Selphie are out on a mission. Quistis and her current class have the next lunch and Raijin and Irvine had the previous lunch."

"THAT LEAVES ME."

"Yeah, that leaves--EEP!" Rinoa popped out of her seat. She gaped at the grinning silver-haired cadet, astonished by her unanticipated appearance.

Fujin dropped her small sub sandwich and bottle of water on the table and sat down quietly.

"You know, I think Nida has this lunch, too," Zell spoke up. "I feel sorry for the guy. He doesn't really hang around a lot of other people."

SeeDs aren't assigned specific lunches, since they don't have classes, but sometimes they get stuck helping instructors out, like Selphie did that morning. Nida had assisted another class and decided to eat lunch during their same designated period.

And speak of the devil. Zell just so happened to spot Nida leaving the lunch line. "YO! NIDA! OVER HERE!" He started waving his arms about.

"Lower the volume, Chicken-wuss," Seifer commented with an eyeroll. "The caf's not that big..."

"What did you call me, Almasy?!"

"Hey," Nida greeted everyone, surprised that two-thirds of the notorious Posse, also known as the former Disciplinary Committee, were seated with two of the heroes of the world. He looked from the infuriated T-boarder to the mellow cadet. "What's up with them?"

"Nothing unusual," Rinoa replied courteously, as she scooted over so Nida could pull up a chair and sit. "Can you tell me anything about Squall's mission? He was in such a hurry..."

Nida chewed part of his pizza and swallowed. "He, Selphie, and that really conceited SeeD guy... Firion-something, had to go to Winhill to fight off these Chimeras that had gotten into the town. Then they have to head to Esthar to look for this terrorist who's planning to bomb the Presidential Palace. Something like that. I don't think it's anything they can't handle."

"That Firion guy didn't graduate with us, did he?" Zell queried.

"No... I think the time before us."

"Those kind of terrorists are really bad," Rinoa said softly, changing the subject. "They use explosives and violence to get their way... the Forest Owls used more diplomacy."

"THEY'LL BE FINE," Fujin reassured her. She meant it gently, but of course, it came out harsher than intended. Rinoa got the picture, though.

"Yeah, I bet they will. My Squall's a good boy," the sorceress joked, giggling.

_(My Squall...) _

Without her realizing it, her laughter faltered. Then for a second, she pondered how odd she sounded. The others wouldn't have noticed, probably, but it bothered her.

_(Wow, forced much?) _

She wasn't worried about his safety. Not at all. Concern wasn't what made her sound so uneasy, but maybe that was the thing.

Rinoa began to wonder, for once, if she was really in love. She and Squall have spent plenty of time together during the summer. There have been a lot of laughs, hugs, kisses, and quality time. Those times _did_ have a lot of passionate love, but perhaps not anymore. She felt like she was a car or something, a fast one, that was rapidly running out of fuel. As much as she didn't want to admit it, her romantic feelings were starting to fade. She wouldn't know how to explain it, but she could feel it in her gut and in her heart.

And yet, she felt unwilling to break up with him. Her comfort level with him grew a lot, and she just felt at ease having him there. He was someone she has become accustomed to, and it'd be a shame to fix something that wasn't broken.

_(But...)_

There were a lot of but's. Ones that made Rinoa confused for the rest of lunchtime.

* * *

"I'm so frickin' BORED!!" shouted Selphie as she sat down in the middle of the chocobo crossing in Winhill.

_(Where were the monsters? Were they called Chimeras or something? What were they doing in Winhill, anyway? Don't they live on the Island Closest To Heaven or something? Can I fight them on my own? What if I pass out? Will they eat me? What would Irvy think if they did? Will he ever like me that way?) _These questions boggled Selphie's mind as she continued to sit alone, waiting for something to happen.

_(Who knows? Maybe a chicobo will come and play with me!)_ she thought happily. She started humming to herself, something similar to her train song.

A few moments later, she heard scuffling behind her but paid it no heed. Probably a chicobo. If it were a monster, it would've let out a big growl or something. Well, that's what most of them did, anyway.

She drew her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. She buried her face into arms and heaved a long sigh. She was tired.

A hand gingerly clamped down on her shoulder. Automatically, the startled Selphie rose to her feet and whipped out her nunchaku in a wild fashion, consequently swinging it at the intruder. A second later, she heard the _thwack_ of weapon against forehead.

"Owww...! Selphie..."

Oops, that was a human. "Tee-hee, sorry Squall," she apologized. She watched in amusement as Squall grumpily rubbed his cheek where the Strange Vision hit him. She held in a giggle when she noticed that her nunchaku left a red mark on his otherwise flawless (disregarding the scar) face.

"That hurt..."

"I said I was sorry, Squally! You need a Cure or something? A Potion? A kiss to make it go away? Ooh, I wonder what Rinny would say if she knew I did that--"

"No, it's fine, Selph." He didn't bother casting anything on himself. With that kind of hit, he was going to get a bruise later, but Selphie imagined that he would want to save on his Potions and Cures.

"Whatcha doin' here?" she asked playfully.

"All the Chimeras at my post, in the town square, are dead," he stated monotonously, soldier-like. "I came to see if you needed help."

She pouted. "So you think that because I'm short and small and dainty for my age, I'm a weak fighter who can't handle a Chimera even though my rank's as high as yours?!"

"No!" he objected, holding a gloved hand up. "I wouldn't have left you out here in the first place if that were going to happen. I was just bored afterward..."

Selphie giggled. "I was joking, Squally. And geez, you could've just said _that_."

"Don't call me Squally." He sat cross-legged down on the ground. He didn't say anymore.

Selphie didn't like silences. Even between friends. It compulsed her to say something to fill that gap. This time was no different. "Squaaaall..." Selphie scuffed her boots on the dirt road. "You're being boring again..."

"... Thanks." He scowled.

Another moment of nothing. Selphie suddenly felt impatient. Why wasn't he doing anything? _(Squall was much cooler this morning,)_ she thought, tsking to herself.

But well, she guessed it was up to her to provide entertainment for the both of them. She seated herself directly in front of Squall, looking right at his face. "Let's have a staring contest!" she exclaimed.

"..." He raised an eyebrow.

"Pleeeease...?" Selphie gave him wide, begging puppy eyes. "We never bond, Squall... the least we could do is play a game..." Since she was in close proximity, leaning into him, Squall couldn't help but notice how green her eyes were. They were so entrancing, so full of life and energy. So happy. And, to be honest, quite pretty. But he wasn't going to tell anyone that.

"N-no..." he managed stammer after a second's hesitation, unable to look away. How did a hyperactive, childish, yellow-wearing Trabian like her get eyes that pulled him in like that? Did he ever notice them before?

"C'mon!" Selphie declared. "You're staring at me already, tee-hee."

Squall flushed slightly, much to his dismay, and pushed her away. He then averted his eyes, avoiding her face altogether. "... There's obviously nothing here," he said hastily. "Let's go check on Firion."

Oblivious to his reactions, Selphie didn't seem to mind at all. "Okay!" She cheered.

Squall picked himself off the ground and started walking toward the area of town where the shop was, where the third SeeD was situated.

The girl walked alongside him, jogging every once in a while to catch up with his wider stride. "Hey, Squall?" she piped up.

"What?" He asked without turning. He just couldn't get over her eyes. Because of them, there was this weird, tiny pull of attraction that he didn't want to exist. With Selphie. Imagine that. Okay, he'll admit that Selphie was cute, and that she grew on him, but never has he felt his heart skip a beat because of her. Those damn eyes. Nothing like his girlfriend's. Rinoa's were a warm, coffee brown. They made him smile and feel like everything was okay.

But Selphie's, on the other hand, were more intense.

"Does Irvine ever talk about me?" She sounded unexpectedly serious.

Squall stopped and turned to face her. "I guess..." he answered. _(I thought they were already dating...?) _"Aren't you two...?"

She shook her head. "Uh-uh... but," she shyly kicked a stone down the path with a brown boot. "I really like him. Ever since that train ride when he first came with us, I've felt, I dunno, something. My heart pounds weirdly every time he'd come near. And my face grows hot whenever he'd put his arm around me... and he told me on the train--"

_"We're destined to be together!"_ he imitated, although without as much gusto. He sighed. "Yeah, I walked in right when he said it." _(Why is she telling me all this?)_

"Yeah! He said that and..." Selphie's cheeks were beginning to redden. She cupped her hands over them to hide them. "I don't know why I'm telling an unemotional oaf like you..."

Squall glared at her. _(I'm not heartless...)_

"...but... I think I'm in love with him," she finished. "And it takes a lot for me to do that..." She finally looked up from the ground and at Squall. Her eyes expressed a sincere kindness, almost sad.

The commander had never seen the word sad and Selphie put together. Even when T-Garden was destroyed, she kept a smile on, solacing the victims and friends and keeping everyone's spirits up. It was the same in the most vicious of battles; she still wore a hint of a grin, always certain she would be victorious.

She kept right on staring at him, and Squall didn't know what to do. "Uh..." he began quietly.

"This is where you comfort me, stupid!" she informed him teasingly.

"... I'm sure things will work out," he muttered automatically. What else was he supposed to say? He didn't know how to comfort people.

"I guess." She kicked another pebble. "Does Rinoa ever make you feel that way?"

It was strange that her name came up.

Squall was puzzled at the fact that he hadn't thought about Rinoa that much since the mission started. _(Wonder why. Am I just used to having a girlfriend? Is that why I don't feel so emotionally happy anymore when someone mentions her? I don't feel the need to gush about her all the time.)_

"... Maybe," he replied carefully. "I definitely did when we first got together..." He didn't want to lie to Selphie, but he didn't want her pestering him about his love life, either.

"I see." Selphie, now in a lovesick stupor, began wandering off. She glanced back at her friend. "Sorry, by the way... for being so open like that." She giggled. "Must make me look weak, huh? Bad for SeeD."

Selphie and weak didn't go together, either.

"It doesn't," he said. He didn't mean to say that (not out loud, anyway), but he just... did. It was true, though. Selphie was strong in not letting things ruin her emotionally. She didn't give up. She always strived to accomplish some goal, even when things were tough. She always found away to make things better.

He eventually caught up to her, and Selphie looked up at him once more and smiled. "So do you have any idea what Irvy really thinks of me?"

"... I don't know," Squall replied, a little annoyed that she was bringing him up. Again. Didn't he just tell her his answer? _(Shut up about Irvine.)_

"Come on!" she whined. "You, Zell, and Irvy always have these manly slumber parties gossiping about us girls!" Her commander was about to protest, but she continued, not letting him argue. "You totally do!"

He glowered at her. "Those were not slumber parties. They didn't even sleep over."

"Well, whatever," she said, shrugging. "But--"

"And the three of you eavesdropped on us?" he asked in disbelief.

"Leave me alone!" she cried. "We were bored!"

"..."

Selphie all of a sudden grabbed Squall's arm and pulled him down to her level. "I know you know about what Irvine thinks," she said. "Tell me...!!"

This was getting very irritating. "Ask him yourself when we get back," he answered, annoyed. He removed Selphie's hand from his arm. "You're obsessed."

She pouted at him innocently. Squall tried not to get her pitiful expressions get to him, but she was so... cute. And those damned emerald pools of abysmal proportions were so deep and persuasive. He couldn't say no to her.

So, with a sigh, he stopped and turned to her.

Selphie looked up at him questioningly.

"Fine, you want to know what he thinks of you?" he asked her firmly. "I don't know. Ultimately, I don't. But from my observations, he likes you. As a friend. He never mentioned wanting to be with you. Irvine does mention a lot of so-called "hot chicks" a lot. A different one every ten seconds."

Squall could see the enegy in her eyes gradually leave, even though the smile never left her face. It actually made him feel horrible that he was so blunt. If there was one thing she was sensitive about, it would be about people she cared about greatly. Irvine is her best friend, and from what she mentioned earlier, the object of her affection.

"Hyne... Selph." What should he do now? He ran a hand through his hair. Irvine was a good friend of his, but he didn't like how he was such a player. If he went steady with somebody, namely another good friend, there'd be nothing but broken hearts and friendships. As taciturn as he was, he wouldn't wish that upon any of his friends.

"What is it, Squall?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

So he might as well tell her what he thought. "To tell you the truth," Squall replied honestly, "I don't want you to bother with him. He really is a ladies' man and a player like they say, and I don't want your heart broken because of him." His blue-grey orbs accidentally caught and held her emerald ones. "You deserve better, Selphie."

Once again, those beautiful eyes of her pulled him in. He couldn't look away this time.

Meanwhile, Selphie seemed awed by his words. "Wow... Squall," she murmured, her eyes lighting up. "You can really be a great friend when you want to." To his surprise, she embraced him tightly, her thin arms encircling his waist. Squall returned the hug awkwardly, not used to such contact from her.

She finally let go of him and brushed a hand through her chestnut-colored tresses. "Thanks a lot, Squally," she said sincerely, forgetting that he hated that name, "but I'll take my chances. I am his best friend Sefie, after all." With that, she winked at him and scampered off, her giggles echoing throughout the quiet little town as she ran to Firion (much to the conceited SeeD's dread).

Squall slowly followed after her with a deep frown. _(Really, Selphie? ... Really?)_ he asked her silently.

He wasn't going to help any more people with their problems if it wasn't going to affect them. "...Whatever..." he mumbled.

* * *

"Lazy bum," Zell grunted. Seifer was "too tired" to get material from the library at the end of the day, so he asked his "favorite chicken-wuss" to get some library books for that Iron Giant thing. _(Oh, did I say asked?) _the blond martial artist asked himself. _(I meant threatened.)_

He entered the library. As soon as he did, he spotted that girl with the pigtail (_(What's her name again?)_ he wondered), looking up at him from the checkout counter. He nodded at her and headed to the shelves on the right.

Apparently, she followed him there, but he didn't hear that library girl silently come up behind him until he turned around to go ask for help.

He almost collided straight into her, stopping mere inches from impact. "Crap!" he half-exclaimed, trying to keep it down for the library's sake. "Sorry..."

"Oh, uh, Z-Zell... I'm sorry," she stuttered nervously. She played around with the yellow bow on her uniform, avoiding his eyes. "I was j-just wondering if you needed help..."

"Hell yeah I do," he declared in relief. "Do you have anything on the breeding of Iron Giants?"

"Oh... wow, d-do those even breed...?"

"Psh, I don't know."

She looked up and shyly tugged on his sleeve. "Here, I'll show you the books on monster and animal sciences." She led the way to the shelf of books nearest the door.

Zell glanced at her flushed face as they walked on. He remembered how nervous she looked whenever she talked to him, and how she went out of her way to get him that Combat King magazine. There was also the Zell Committee and that little fortune book or whatever. What was up with that? _(If I didn't know any better, I'd say she likes me or something.)_ He smiled, amused.

Well, that much was blatantly obvious, but the martial artist didn't catch on very fast.

"They should be along the two bottom shelves here," said the library girl, gesturing to the books there.

Zell kneeled down, examining the titles. "Thanks," he told her gratefully.

"You're welcome," she replied meekly. She didn't move anywhere. The brown-haired girl just stood to the side, watching him while she nervously shifted from foot to foot. Zell felt a little awkward about her doing that, but he dismissed it as her just being helpful.

And finally... "Uh, Zell?"

He half-turned his head, still looking at the books. "Yeah?"

"Will you... um..." she stalled, getting incredibly anxious.

Zell pulled out a couple books and stood up, looking down at her. "Will I what?" He handed her the books he wanted to check out.

She took the books timidly as she blushed furiously. "Will... will... yougooutwithme?" she finished in a rush.

Zell looked more than surprised. No one's ever asked him out before... heck, he's never even been on a date! "..."

"I-I und-derstand if you don't want t-to, I mean, I-I'm just a library g-girl," she stammered. She rushed to the checkout counter.

_(So she likes me,)_ Zell thought, blinking dumbfoundedly. He followed her to the counter, and leaned casually against it as she went to the other side to check his books out. He observed her as she scanned them. She was pretty, with glossy brown hair, almond-shaped hazel eyes and a petite build. He never thought about her much before, although he did remember her being in one of his classes last year.

_(I guess a date wouldn't be too bad,)_ Zell said silently as the library girl put the books in front of him, ready to go. She was good-looking, but he wasn't particularly interested in her. In fact, there wasn't really a girl he liked at the moment, but a date with her wouldn't hurt. Maybe he'll grow to like her more. "Hey, um..." he began hesitantly.

"Brie," she said politely. "Brie Sirea."

Zell scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, well, I'd like to... go out with you... if that's still okay."

Brie froze completely.

For a second, the martial artist thought she was going to faint or something. "Brie?"

She beamed excitedly at him. "Of course! Yeah.. uh..." she grabbed a scratch piece of paper and a pen and wrote on it. "Here," she said bashfully, tucking the paper into one of the books.

Well, he sure made someone's day.

Zell gave her a confident grin and left. He punched the air with zeal and jogged the rest of the way to Seifer's dorm. He got a date! His first date!

He was still that excited when he knocked on Seifer's dorm door with the rhythm of "Shave and a Haircut".

_Knock, knock-knock-knock, knock... knock, knock!_

Seifer's roommate, Ralse, answered. Recognizing Zell as one of the famous SeeDs who defeated Ultimecia, he welcomed him in. "Looking for the hopeless bastard?" Ralse asked.

"Yup, I am."

Seifer appeared out of his bedroom, clothes looking slightly disheveled from a nap. "Well, the hopeless bastard's here," he muttered sleepily.

"Well," the lesser known cadet spoke up. "I was just on my way to the Training Center. Later." Ralse gave the two a short wave and left.

"Thank Hyne," Seifer muttered when Ralse shut the door. "That asshole has given me hell about Ultimecia since I moved in." He grabbed the two books out of Zell's hands.

Zell tsked, not too pleased about the rudeness on the taller blond's part. "You're welcome, Seif," he snapped.

Seifer ignored him, flipping through one of them. He stopped and pulled out a familiar piece of paper and smiled mischievously.

"Oh shit," Zell murmured as he made a grab for it, but Seifer held it up above his head so the shorter boy couldn't reach.

Seifer read the paper. "Hm... Brie Sirea, dorm #119, cell number 214-0-FUCK!" He keeled over suddenly, dropping the paper to the floor.

Zell had punched him in the stomach. The SeeD scoffed at his friend, picking up the little scrap of paper and tucking it into his jacket pocket. "Don't take what's not yours," he said.

"Ugh..." Seifer grunted, curled into a fetal position on the floor.

"To answer your unasked questions," Zell continued, his mood brightening, "Yes, I do have a date, and yes, it's my first one, and yes, I'm excited." He sat down in a chair at the kitchen table.

Recovered, Seifer sat up and looked up at him. "So, a mother hen for you, Chicken-wuss?"

Zell glared at him. "Say that again!!" he screamed heatedly.

Seifer moved to sit down on the sofa, ignoring the rage. "You're a moody one," he commented with a low whistle. "Who's the Brie chick, anyway?"

"She's the library girl with the pigtail," Zell replied, calming down some in lieu of the changed subject.

"Oh... her," the tall blond vaguely remembered her. "She was in our military science class last year, right?"

"Yeah, that must be it." Zell idly ran a hand over his tattoo.

Seifer nodded. "She liked you for a while. Never shut up about you."

"Really?"

Seifer shot a look at him, astonished. "You mean, you couldn't tell, Dincht?! It was so obvious!"

Zell just looked back at him, confused. "Well, I kinda did realize it today," he responded with a shrug. "And I guess I decided to give it a chance."

_(Now he could tell.)_ The ex-knight shook his head in disappointed. _(Stupid, clueless Chicken-wuss.)_ "You better watch out for Firion what's-his-face," Seifer added, humor laced in his voice, "He has the hots for her, too."

"Oh," was all Zell said. He didn't seem phased.

_(Oh?)_ Seifer echoed in his head. _(Seems like Chicken-wuss is more excited about going on a date itself rather than the girl he's going with. Ugh, well, shit. This isn't my business, anyway.)_ "Well, I'm going back to sleep," he announced unceremoniously, standing up and wandering to his bedroom. "Don't wake me up, Chicken-wuss. Have fun with your hen."

Zell growled with anger at the old nickname. "I will, Seifer." He stood up, pushed the chair into the table violently, and left in a foul mood, courtesy of the former knight.

* * *

"All right. To Esthar," Firion St. Germaine, a stuck-up SeeD with light brown hair commented, putting his sickle away. "Hm, my work here really paid off," he added, gloating.

Squall rolled his eyes. "_Our_ work," he corrected.

"If you insist."

The commander began to walk off, annoyed. "Oh for fuck's sake..."

Selphie giggled at him as she followed.

"Seriously," Squall said in a hiss, dipping his head so that only Selphie could hear. "That pansy can go--never mind."

"Pansy?" Selphie repeated, her voice low to match his. "You still hate his jacket? I think it's cool!"

Like many SeeDs sent off to missions outside of Garden, Firion was dressed in an outfit other than his SeeD uniform. Keeping his outfit as fancy as his name, his consisted of a shimmery black muscle shirt (which he insisted cost a fortune) with a navy blue military style jacket that had some supposed high-fashion, asymmetrical collar. It covered his chin and the bottom half of his mouth, giving him that rich, aloof man-with-too-much-ego look. His pants were a medium gray, fitted well and tucked into a pair of expensive-looking black leather combat boots that never seemed to get scuffed. On top of that, he also wore black gloves similar to Squall's own... but probably more expensive, of course.

"Oh, hey, Squall," called Firion as he caught up to them, unaware of Squall's earlier remarks. "I've been meaning to ask, but what's that red mark on your cheek?"

"..."

With Squall clearly ignoring him, Selphie had to be the one to explain it to the curious Firion.

The three SeeDs decided there weren't anymore threats in Winhill, so they informed the authorities of this. Now they were on their way out of the town and to the Ragnarok just outside of Winhill.

Out of the corner of his eye, Squall spotted a low hill, one that seemed like a good spot to lie down and look at stars. Interestingly, he also spotted a peace of flat stone on top of it. It was as if it was a grave of some sort.

Something tugged at him to go look. While Selphie and Firion continued their trek, Squall hesitated, still staring off at that hill.

Noticing the missing party member, the two stopped and craned their necks to look at the suddenly distant commander.

"Squall?" Selphie spoke up quizzically.

"...." he didn't answer at first, preoccupied with an important conversation he had with Ellone sometime after the final battle with Ultimecia. Why it never crossed his mind during this mission, he didn't know, but now it flooded his mind.

_"Me, Uncle Laguna, Kiros, and Ward,"_ his surrogate sister had told him, _"We're gonna visit her."_

Even then, Squall had understood what the emphasis on 'her' meant. _"Raine... is she in Winhill?" _he had asked.

_"Mm,"_ Ellone responded, with a quick nod of the head. _"She has a special spot in the flower fields on the edge of town, on a low hill where Uncle Laguna proposed to her." _She was wistful. _"That night must've been magical." _After a momentary pause, she turned to Squall. _"Hm... it's weird that you still call them by first name."_

"Just a sec," Squall told his companions, jogging toward the hill. "I need to see something."

"What on earth is he talking about?" Firion asked Selphie, confused.

She shrugged. "Let's follow him and see!"

--

_"I don't understand," Squall said._

_She smiled softly, realizing that he didn't know. "Uncle Laguna would be too frightened to tell you, and has always insisted I do it in his stead. I mean, I insisted--" _

_"Sis," Squall interrupted, knowing she was stalling._

_"Right, right." Taking a deep breath, she faced her younger 'brother.' "Squall," she said, putting calming hands on his shoulders to make sure he was bracing himself for this big piece of information._

_He raised a brow, prompting her to go on._

_"Raine was your mother."_

_--_

In real time, Squall slowed down as he came closer to the tombstone, thinking. Why he never made the connection, he didn't know, but a new mixture of emotions filled him. One he understood as an instinct, knowing his mother's grave and possibly spirit were near. The second was a combination of betrayal and anger. A new set of words from Ellone filled his mind, more old conversations that helped Squall add up the missing parts of his life.

_"When I was kidnapped,"_ he remembered Ellone saying to him a long time ago, _"Uncle Laguna went on a journey to find me... but because he did, Uncle Laguna wasn't able to be by Raine's side when she died."_

His insides began to boil the more he thought about it.

_"Raine wanted to show Laguna her newborn baby... Raine kept calling out for Laguna. So no matter what, I wanted Laguna to stay in the village... but it didn't work."_

Squall squatted down in front of the stone, staring at the name engraved, now numb with the flurry of emotions.

_"I can no longer make him go back to the moment."_

--

_RAINE LOIRE_

_#### - ####_

_--_

Again, he had that familial instinct of just _knowing_. He didn't need Ellone to tell him who his father was. There wasn't any other possiblity. He just knew.

The president of Esthar was even more of a moron than he thought. Squall's hands clenched into fists at his side, the feelings of abandonment and livid rage returning to him. How could _that idiot man_ leave his mother's side like that? How could he have left Squall in the dark like that? Why didn't he ever come back for him when the first war was over? Why why why?

"Squall?"

_(Selphie,)_ he acknowledged silently, gritting his teeth to keep from projecting his anger to her. He barely turned, the corner of his eye glancing at her curiously.

"Are you all right? Taking pretty long over here, buck-o." Before he could stop her, the booted Trabian stepped up beside him, quickly finding the gravestone at her feet. "Oh..." She mouthed Raine's name, remembering it from the many adventures due to Ellone's mysterious power.

"That's my mother," he confessed abruptly, surprising Selphie by speaking up at all. He didn't know why he told her right off the bat. He was usually so secretive.

Her green eyes wide, she nodded slowly, looking from him back to the stone. She must have thought the same thing as he. "Er," she began awkwardly, "Sir Laguna told you? I mean, that's his last... name..." She put two and two together. She snapped her head toward him in disbelief. "Squall... is he your--"

"That coward of a man didn't have the balls to say anything," the commander spat sourly. "Ellone told me Raine was my mom." He squatted down, lowering his head and running frustrated hands through his hair. "God, I can't believe this! All the loneliness in my life... just... ugh!"

Selphie didn't quite know what to do. This seemed like a private moment for the Lion, but she remained rooted to her spot. She didn't want to leave him alone.

"Selphie..." he muttered, his head still down. "That Sir Laguna you love so much--"

"Squall--" she started gently.

"--abandoned my mother," he went on, as if she had never spoken up at all. "She called out for him, but he never came. I called out for someone to come back for me, but he never came."

Selphie remained silent and somber.

"Just... Hyne, Selph," he continued, starting to become an emotional, rambling mess. "He should've known. That fucking bastard should've known. Things with me... would've turned out so different." The last of his words came out weak, much softer than the sharp, angrier words previously.

He felt two small arms wrap themselves around him from behind him, simply holding him. It was the second time that day Selphie Tilmitt's hugged him. Still a new sensation, but he was grateful for her silent comfort. She proved to be more calming presence than he thought. He managed to lift his head and turn his head toward her. Their faces were unreasonably close, but he didn't mind; not at that moment. Her expression looked so mature and maternal, with those consoling emerald-colored eyes, that Squall felt his heart leap again, stunned by the beauty she secretly possessed when she wasn't so hopelessly cheerful and childish all the time.

"..... Thank you," he said, not used to the words coming out of his mouth.

"You know I'm always here," Selphie told him, her tone light. She let go of him then, straightening herself. "Squall..."

He rose to his feet. "Hm?"

"You know what the next part of the mission is, right?"

He closed his eyes briefly, dreading it more than ever before. All thanks to this tombstone. "Yeah. I know."

"Keep it professional, okay?" she said meekly, not terribly used to being serious for such a long amount of time. "Whatever you need to take care of personally... let that happen some other time. Just sayin'."

_(She's right.)_ "Okay," he agreed gratefully. "I'll try, Selphie."

"Awesome!" she said in a singsong voice. She winked. "Now, let's head back to the Ragnarok where I left the Super Godly Firion St. Germaine. He probably thinks we eloped or something!"

Squall felt a smirk force its way to his face. "I would love to see his expression if he really thought that."

After she let out a small giggle, they exchanged knowing looks as they headed back to their airship. Selphie's orbs of endless green seemed to reassure him that his secret was safe with her. This, Squall was glad for. Now he felt bad for all the times he's undermined the nunchaku specialist based on her simplistic personality and the character traits that seemed like total opposites of his. Sure, he respected her as a SeeD and person, but this was different. Now that he has spent a little more one-on-one time with her, he's definitely changed his opinion of her for the better.

The start of a lasting friendship.

* * *

_Yes, a lot of changes, but it shouldn't effect the story too much. Plus, I'll be renovating (haha, as if it was a building) the next chapter, anyway._


	3. II: Eye See You

**Author's Notes:** _So, the beginning will look a lot more different compared to the original. But don't worry, it'll be better. Hahaha. Hopefully, I got everyone's eye colors at least mostly right._

_One random thing. How do you guys pronounce "Dollet"? Doh-LAY, Doh-LET, or something completely different?_

_Oh, and THANK GOD FOR THE FINAL FANTASY WIKIA. _

**Disclaimer:** FFVIII does not belong to me; neither do the lyrics to Steps' song "Happy Go Lucky."

* * *

**Maybe It Could Work  
by Elcyion Pitye**

**

* * *

  
**

**II. Eye See You**

--

_And they call me happy-go-lucky._

_They don't know my heart is dying inside._

_A smile's a frown turned upside-down._

_I do my happy-go-lucky so well_

_I'm even fooling myself._

_--_

Selphie and her fellow SeeDs, Squall and Firion, stood inside President Loire's office, waiting for Laguna, Kiros, and Ward to come in.

With the recent revelation from Squall fresh in her mind, Selphie couldn't help but feel anxious for her friend. He wasn't the type to have high-energy outbursts like Zell did, but then again, this was a much bigger deal than anything the T-boarder could ever fathom. Squall, when facing Laguna Loire (now revealed to be his father), could lose it.

Even looking at the framed photos displayed on the president's desk seemed weird now. Normally, she would squeal about how much of a hunk Laguna was, because he was indeed very good-looking, even at his current age, but it made her feel guilty. There was a less chivalrous side to him that Selphie didn't like to think about. Moreover, she would always take Squall's side in things, as her friend.

Although now it might get a little more complicated.

She let her eyes fall distractedly to her companions. Firion was admiring the futuristic atmosphere, since he had never been to Esthar before, and Squall was leaning against the wall by the door, arms crossed and head down in thought. At feeling her looking at him, he lifted his head to look at her.

Selphie smiled, despite the heaviness she got from his pools of blue-gray. Never has she met anyone who had so many different emotions running in their eyes. Her other friends, namely the ones in good ol' T-Garden, were much simpler to deal with on an emotional level. None of them were as hyper or optimistic as her, but they were, for the most part, positive. Nothing like Squall and his constant gloom.

The door opened. The three SeeDs looked up.

Laguna Loire, plainclothed as ever with the light blue button down and the khaki pants, came in with a smile. Right behind him were his ever-present buddies and advisors, Ward and Kiros. They were both clad in proper Estharian garb.

Squall had to fight the urge to yell at him about these new grudges. He felt so angry that all he wanted to do was sock Laguna in the face and leave, but alas, they were on official SeeD business. Like Selphie said, he would have to wait. Then again, why would he bother? Maybe it would be better if Squall never saw or spoke to this scum again, and reject any future missions that involved Laguna Loire.

He felt Selphie's gaze on him, warning him. He turned to give her a reassuring look, promising her that he wouldn't act on his emotions. Of course he wouldn't. Squall knew how to be a soldier.

Realizing that he was staring at her, even as she faced forward again, he quickly turned away, his mind momentarily distracted by the sudden memory of those profound green eyes. Squall didn't know what was going on, but every time he looked at her, that was all he could think about.

"Sir Laguna!" Selphie greeted cheerfully, saluting with enthusiasm.

No lie; Squall didn't like how she was still so gleeful about him, but she wasn't supposed to know about his secret, right?

"Just Laguna," the president replied politely, chuckling. "I'm no knight or anything... I'm just regular Laguna Loire to you and your friends."

"Mr. President," Firion spoke up, saluting as well. "You don't know me, but I'm Firion St. Germaine, Rank 26 SeeD at Balamb Garden."

"Aw, man, just call me Laguna," Laguna said to him, scratching the back of his head modestly. He let his eyes fall on Squall, instantly noting the way the commander rejected his mere presence with his eyes.

From his expression of awed acknowledgement, Squall could tell that Laguna knew what he knew. The older man had a surprised, but understanding look in his brown orbs, along with a regretful smile that would've broken anyone's heart but Squall's.

The commander was no fool. He wouldn't take pity on such a man.

The president hesitated many times before speaking up again, as if trying to figure out a proper way to address his estranged son. "Squall," Laguna greeted him softly, putting his hand out for him to shake.

The commander looked at the hand as if he didn't know why it was there.

"How are you?" Laguna continued enthusiastically, his hand still out. "Doing good?"

Squall looked at his dad, glaring daggers at him. "Yes, President Loire," he replied quietly, his voice like ice.

The air in the room suddenly became dense. Kiros and Ward exchanged looks, realizing what had just gone on between the two.

The president's smile wavered slightly, understanding that he wouldn't be so easily forgiven. Just as well. This wasn't the time or place for personal matters. He let his hand drop by his side and turned his head, slowly nodding at Kiros and Ward to start the meeting.

"Well," Kiros began, clearing his throat in the awkwardly silent room. He went over to Laguna's desk and picked up two manila folders. "This has been going on since the defeat of Ultimecia." He handed one folder to Squall and the other to Firion. "Terrorists are becoming a threat nowadays because now that we have a nice sorceress, Rinoa, they don't fear any supernatural danger that may prevent them from their schemes."

Squall opened his folder and found a profile and some mugshots of a spiky-dark-haired, light-blue-eyed, scowling man who looked near his age. He read the name out loud. "Azul Dawning..."

"The two people in the folders are suspected terrorists," Kiros explained. "We have little information except for these." He gestured toward the profiles in the SeeDs' hands. "... The records we keep in the Palace. We don't even know if there are more of them, or if these two are involved at all."

"There's a rumor of a bomb threat in three hours. And we like, wanted to hire some SeeDs to follow each of them undercover at this gala and hopefully catch them," Laguna said. "And... uh..." He didn't remember the rest of the plan.

Kiros continued for him, sighing. "We have Esthar soldiers searching all parts of the palace for any signs of bombs. We also have some plainclothes soldiers who will escort our disguised president into the Trabian region. If you come across any new suspects, let me or Ward know with the communicators we're gonna hand you. We'll then notify Esthar soldiers to keep a lookout."

Firion examined his folder. It was a woman with amethyst-colored eyes and wavy, light blonde hair. "Ciel Maestoso..."

"..." said Ward informatively. "..."

"Ward says that the folders also contain their regular living quarters, work hours, and usual hangouts. Things like that," Kiros interpreted expertly. "If you manage to meet them in person, don't tell them anything about yourselves, SeeDs, or anything about us, the Estharian government." He rubbed his chin, gazing at them contemplatively. Squall and Selphie in particular. "You may want to disguise yourselves a bit. You might be too recognizable. But, hey, you guys can kick their anarchist butts even if they do."

"Did Ward really say all that?" Selphie wondered out loud.

"I added the butt-kicking part."

Squall, Selphie, and Firion listened to the rest of the plan carefully. The rest of the mission mainly consisted of searching around for these enigmatic anarchists and hopefully catch them before the bomb catches the entire city. Simple enough. Very routine. As long as these enemies of theirs didn't carry any odd and dangerous secrets.

When they were finished with the meeting, Kiros escorted them upstairs to another area of the building, a place they haven't been to yet. Upon entering their individual designated dressing rooms, the SeeDs were grabbed by stylists like they were madmen.

Kiros could only chuckle apologetically as the doors simultaneously slammed shut.

* * *

_(I look stupid,)_ Squall thought to himself as he adjusted his maroon tie. He was the first to emerge out of his dressing room, reasonably tortured enough by the professional stylists. The ending result of his makeover was a lot more disappointing than he imagined. His ashen brown hair was slicked back with fragrant gel. With some colored contacts, his eyes now appeared green. And thanks to the magic of makeup, his scar (along with that mark on his cheek from earlier) was gone.

As for his clothing, a dark blue business suit hung off of his lean figure pretty nicely, with some shiny black dress shoes to match. He barely recognized himself in the mirror at first. In his opinion, he looked like a politician. That or some idiot mobster ready to kidnap innocent girls from churches.

"Hah, looking pretty spiffy," Firion remarked sarcastically when he appeared out of his own dressing room. He too, was wearing a suit, only his was cream-colored with a black tie. His hair was gelled and parted in the middle. His sneering expression seemed to reflect how he felt about his outfit. "I look like my name should be Rufus. What do you think?"

"Whatever," Squall mumbled. _(Rufus is a douchey enough name to match your douchey appearance.)_

Suddenly, the door to Selphie's dressing room, slowly opened a crack, but then slammed back shut.

Squall looked toward it as it opened again in a second attempt. However, immediately after, it closed once more.

"Selphie, hurry up," Squall called, almost exasperated. What was she doing?

After a long pause, Selphie finally emerged, looking sheepish.

Squall turned, about to open his mouth to say something, but immediately fell speechless, his jaw uncharacteristically going slack. From behind him, Firion murmured a "whoa," but the commander barely heard him.

For the first time, Selphie left him in complete awe. This wasn't the little Trabian he was expecting.

Selphie shifted uncomfortably in her black heeled boots, letting the two boys take her appearance in as if silently asking for approval.

Her hair had been straightened and parted haphazardly, giving it a sexy tousle. It was longer and much shinier than Squall's ever seen it. Gone was the childish curl she's had since she was little. Her eyes stayed the emerald green they were, but were brought out more by the light, but noticeable eye makeup. That and the juicy, pinkish red gloss on her lips made her look a lot more grown up. The little halter top black dress that fit her figure like a glove made her look quite appealing.

Squall's eyes couldn't help but travel up and down, taking in the Trabian's appearance. He felt a small blush rise up his cheeks when she turned to him, eyeing his outfit in liking.

Rinoa was far from his mind now.

He didn't know how it happened. Selphie had grown up in one and a half hours... and he couldn't stop thinking about how this was no longer the orphanage gang's little Sefie. This was Miss Tilmitt.

"So, uh," Selphie began awkwardly, her signature giggle small and weak. She seemed quite bashful; very unlike her. "Let's get this mission over with, huh?"

"Yeah," Squall managed to say with a cough. He took this quick second to regain his composure. This was part of their mission, remember?

Firion sighed, smiling wanely. He made a wide gesture with his hand toward the hallway out. "Ladies first."

Selphie turned to Squall. "Squall!" she called playfully.

He looked at her. "I'm not a lady..."

"Squallyyyy! Escort me!"

"I told you not to call me that," Squall muttered, rolling his eyes. Nonetheless, he did what he was told, flanking her on one side as they headed down the hall. Firion followed after without another word, although the brunet could imagine what kind of douchey smirk he had on his face.

Selphie stumbled against him as they walked, obviously new to heels. He caught her by the waist easily, surprised by how tiny she was against his hand.

_(She weighs practically nothing...) _

Feeling a little more steadied, she lightly pushed against him, finding her center of balance in the fashionable boots. "This is so hard!" she whined. She shot an apologetic look at Firion, knowing that she was holding him up and blocking the hall.

Realizing this, Squall moved aside, motioning for the third member of their party to walk on through to the door. "We'll catch up," he said plainly.

Firion snorted. "I see how it is, Commander." He gave him a knowing smirk. "Good luck." He patted him lightly on the shoulder and walked off, his arrogant strut nearly laughable, in Squall's opinion, but the Lion couldn't stop himself from glowering at the SeeD's back as he went out of sight. The nerve of him to assume something so dumb.

"I can't fight anything in these," Selphie complained, leaning one hand against the wall. She was examining the hells on her boots as if they were an unfamiliar, newly invented contraption. "Why didn't they have any flat-heeled boots?"

"Well, we can't afford to let you hold us up, can we?" Squall replied. Where that smoother tone of voice came from, he didn't know. It was almost unrecognizable to himself. It almost sounded like he was...

_(... flirting with her?)_ he thought, semi-mortified.

Selphie looked up at him, puzzled. Maybe she caught the oddness in his voice, too.

Without thinking, Squall offered his arm to her. It was her eyes doing things to him. It had to be it. No way would he be acting so weird around Selphie, even in this outfit of hers.

_(... Since when did I have such moronic logic?)_

She raised an eyebrow and took his arm, slipping her thin arm through his. "Didn't know Mr. Grumpy Commander could be such a gentleman," she chuckled as they walked together the rest of the way.

_(I didn't know, either.)_ "If you have the need to fall, just lean on me to put you upright," he spoke up. "I'm doing this so you don't put us behind."

She burst into laughter. "Yeah right!" she exclaimed with a wide, somewhat flirtatious smile. "That's just an excuse, Squall."

"...."

_(Yes, it was.)_

* * *

Rinoa checked the clock on the wall of her and Fujin's dorm. It was seven in the evening, and Squall and Selphie haven't come back yet. _(Must be a big mission,) _she thought to herself as she lay on the couch in the living room, face up.

She was bored. Bored of wandering around Garden, bored of training in the Training Center, and bored of spending time on her computer.

She had bumped into Zell recently on her way to the dorms from the cafeteria, where he was headed. He told her excitedly that he called the library girl with the pigtail, Brie something-or-other and they were going to Dollet that night on a date. Rinoa smiled to herself. _(Zell on a date. Zell, the hot dog-loving guy with a short temper.)_

She found it odd for some reason.

Quistis said she had to attend some instructors' workshop in Balamb that would take all night. She obviously didn't want to go, but it was required. That crossed her off of the soceress' list of people to hang out with, as well.

Rinoa also knew that Raijin, Irvine, and Seifer were going training this evening. Near her, Fujin was getting ready, about to do the same. That made the four of them unavailable to do anything with her, too. Rinoa herself didn't feel like training, of course, having already gone.

Fujin drifted out of the bathroom, running a brush through her hair. She patted the lounging Angelo on the head as she hurried past her roommate to get her Zan.

"STILL NOT COMING?" the one-eyed girl asked Rinoa as she opened the door.

"Nah," the sorceress replied, waving her off. "I'll stay here and play with Angelo or something."

The other girl gave her a cautious look as she slipped into her shoes near the door. "ANGELO. WATCH HER. SHE MESSES THE ROOMS UP, SHE'S ZELL'S FOOD."

"Oh, of course I'll watch her," Rinoa replied, batting her eyelashes with feigned innocence.

"HAH," Fujin said humorously. "LATER." She strolled out of the room.

After she left, Rinoa turned to Angelo, who was slowly padding to her mistress, tail wagging weakly. "Just you and me. Huh, girl?" she asked her dog.

Angelo whined in reply, bored as well. Rinoa pet her dog's back absently. The single dorms weren't too far from hers... she could go see Zell off on his date. He had an hour left, anyway.

She stood up from the couch and stretched all her limbs out. Then he went ahead and closed Fujin's bedroom door and the bathroom door so her dog wouldn't get in.

"See ya, Angelo," she said cheerfully, shoving her feet into her shoes. "I'll be at Zell's." She blew her a kiss and left.

* * *

Rinoa wasn't surprised that it would take Zell a while to answer the door. He was most likely caught up in something. In this case, probably coming up with suave dialogue for Brie.

But she _was_ surprised that when he _did_ answer the door, he was clad in only a pair of blue boxers, his hair slicked back and wet from the shower.

"Hi?" he said, the greeting coming out more like a question. Zell didn't expect Rinoa at the door.

The sorceress gulped as she ran her eyes over his well-toned, tanned upper body. Who knew he was so ripped under his clothes?

Heart racing, she forced her eyes away from his abs, lifting her brown orbs to his face. "I was just bored," she said, realizing how nervous she sounded.

"Psh, I bet you were," Zell replied, letting her in with a smile. "No Squally-poo to cuddle."

"Hey!" Rinoa exclaimed, swatting Zell on the arm.

_(Wow, his arms are like steel.)_ She found her eyes drifting to his biceps. Her face grew hot. She wasn't going to lie to herself; Zell had a sexy side, and she was responding far too well to it. She had never been so physically attracted to a guy before.

_(Not even Squall.)_

At the thought of her real boyfriend, Rinoa felt guilty. Here she was, going crazy over a friend of hers, when she had someone of her own. Someone she was supposed to have this sort of attraction to, but didn't.

Someone she hasn't really thought about much all day.

Rinoa clutched her head with both hands and shook her head vigorously to rid herself of these thoughts... but then froze.

_(Zell might see me act all weird...)_

However, to her relief, his back was to her as he headed to the bathroom. Rinoa let her arms fall to her sides and for reasons unknown, followed him.

_(Well, why would Zell care, anyway?)_ She recalled how he trembled in fury all the time. A funny sight to behold.

"So," Rinoa spoke up, standing beside him in the bathroom, looking at the blond in the mirror. "You have a hot date with Brie."

Zell grinned. "Yup."

Rinoa spotted his razor nearby and let her jaw drop slightly. She pointed at it, almost accusingly. "You shave?!"

The martial artist stared at her through the looking glass, dumbfounded and slightly offended. "Hey... I thought all men do. Even the Chickenwussy kind." He laughed.

Rinoa got in front of him and grabbed his chin, as if scrutinizing him. "But you're so cute and baby-faced," she teased.

Zell stared down at her strangely. Well, not exactly down, per se, but he still had around two inches over her. "Thanks, I think," he said in response, hesitant.

It was then Rinoa noticed her actions. She quickly removed her hand as if she scorched it and blushed a little. She didn't mean to act the way she did, but it just happened. She wasn't lying, though. She did think Zell was cute, with excited blue eyes and a killer smile. The tattoo on his face may be threatening, but truthfully, it made him a little more appealing.

_(Ugh, Hyne. What am I thinking?)_

Pretending nothing happened, she plopped herself down on his bed. "She's sweet and pretty," she said, sincerely, but quickly as if trying to come up with excuses for herself to stay away from him. "I'm sure you two will have fun together."

She watched as Zell shamelessly dressed in front of her, putting on some dark jeans and a black, short-sleeved button-down shirt that showed his figure well. She tried not to let her gaze go to his chest as the abdominal muscles rippled and contracted with every move he made.

Overall, she was impressed with his outfit. He was surprisingly a good dresser.

However, his hair...

She looked up at his blond mess of hair. He kind of looked like a chicken. If he was going on a date, then he needed to do something about it. And before she realized it, she broke their comfortable silence with, "Lemme do your hair."

Zell looked back at her from his bathroom mirror. "Why? What's wrong with my hair?" he asked her.

_(Uh... crap. Why am I doing this?)_ Rinoa thought uncertainly. She grabbed his bottle of styling gel nearby. "Well... it's just that we can sorta see why Seifer calls you Chickenwuss all the time," she replied mysteriously.

Zell glared at the mirror. "That--!"

"Face me," she instructed him as she squeezed some gel onto her hand. Zell did what he was told. Rinoa did her work, running her hands through his hair semi-expertly, molding his gelled hair into something better.

When she was done, she let him look at himself in the mirror. Needless to say, he was pleased. His hair wasn't spiked just in the front, like he always had before, but now in all directions. "Cool..." he murmured.

"Wow, you look pretty hot," Rinoa complimented, her voice having an air of gloating to it. She washed her hands in his sink and grinned in spite of herself. "Thanks to me, of course."

Zell smirked at her and applied some cologne. "I know I'm hot."

_(I'd have to actually agree with you there.)_

He glanced down at his watch before he put it on. "I have thirteen minutes."

"I guess its all right to be early," Rinoa said.

"Guess so." Zell took a final look in the mirror, making sure everything was all right, and then rushed to the door. Rinoa followed, incidentally catching the tantalizing scent of his cologne.

_(If only I could just...)_

He unlocked it and let her out first. "Thanks for the hair thing," he said as he locked the sliding door. "It's cool."

Rinoa fought the color in her cheeks. "No problem," she replied. _(Since when was Zell so...?)_ Something about him seemed devastatingly cute and sweet. She never noticed because of his brash, almost immature attitude and his clueless naivety. Never seeing what Brie saw in him. Not until now. There was hardly a time she spent alone with him, where someone was always playfully picking on him (which he never took in stride, of course). Now that she has had this one-on-one sort of bonding with him, she couldn't help but be smitten by his boyish charm.

She was a little jealous of the library girl.

They walked together until they reached Rinoa's dorm, where they said their good-byes as Zell headed off to wait in front of the parking lot, where he and Brie were supposed to meet.

The sorceress watched as his muscular back disappeared out of the dorms, letting confusion and doubt of her current relationship fill her her mind and heart. She hesitated before entering her living quarters, wondering if there was something she should do about it.

* * *

"... So the bomb threat turned out to be just that," Commander Squall told his professional SeeD audience, the usual people he reported to in the Headmaster's office: Xu, his second-in-command (Quistis being third), Nida, the Garden pilot, and Headmaster Cid Kramer. "But we might have assassination attempts against President Loire, so SeeD must keep tabs on him and any other government in Esthar."

"So, how about the terrorists?" Cid asked the three reporting SeeDs. Although he wasn't in charge of SeeD business anymore, he was required to know all the inner information being exchanged. After all, he was like the principal of the school; sort of the ruler of a community.

"We made contact with them," Selphie replied, saluting before she spoke, "but didn't catch them." She pouted. "They're really sneaky. We looked away one second and they practically poofed into thin air!"

"And the president?" Xu asked, filing through papers she received from the SeeDs.

"He has been relocated to Shumi Village," replied Firion. "I believe Kiros and Ward have returned to Esthar so they can take over for him while out of town."

"Well, good job," Cid stated good-naturedly, standing up from his desk. "This seemed like such a shady mission after a simple one like the Winhill situation, but we're still struggling for peace, and our world will get it, especially since the threat of Ultimecia is over and done with. Dismissed."

After their elevator ride back to 1F, Firion walked off without a goodbye. He didn't seem to want anything to do with Squall and Selphie. Well, there went some potential friendship. Not that Squall minded. Firion came off as such a rich boy snob, anyway. In fact, he heard that Firion grew up very, very rich. What he was doing in Garden, he had no idea.

Unlike Squall and Firion, who were more than happy to strip themselves of their disguise, Selphie decided to keep her clothing, feeling a little more confident of her appearance (and her ability to walk in heels) after the mission. She was practically skipping as she stuck by her commander, who was (as usual) on his way to the Training Center.

"Seeing their faces when I came in the office was funny! Huh, Squall?" She looked at him, realizing that he was indeed about to go in to train. "Hey! Squall!" she protested, ready to whack him with the plastic bag containing her real clothing. "Training when we just got back?! Aren't you pooped?!"

_(I should ask you the same thing,)_ Squall thought, giving her a peeved look.

"What about Rinny?" she continued, grabbing his arm, as if she alone could pull him away from the Training Center. "Aren't you gonna see her?"

He sighed, suddenly reminded of the girlfriend he had waiting for him. For some reason, it didn't excite him. It almost felt too routine to see her; a chore. He felt guilty of course, knowing that if Rinoa found out he felt like this, it would hurt her deeply. Maybe if he sucked up to this, he would grow to like it more. They were in love, right? "Right," he said, more to himself than in response to Selphie. Almost reluctantly, he spun on his heel to head to the dorm area.

Before he could go on any further, though, he heard a loud exclamation that echoed throughout the entire lobby.

"WHOOOOOA!! SEFIE?!"

That cowboy-like yell could only come from Irvine Kinneas.

Squall turned around, spotting the Galbadian sniper in the company of all three members of the former Disciplinary Committee. They had just come out fresh from their rounds at the Training Center. They were all staring at the dolled up Selphie as if she was a celebrity. The males in particular were giving her a solid once-over.

Surprisingly, that made him cringe a little.

"PRETTY," Fujin exclaimed, the one saving grace of the horny males. "DISGUISE?"

Selphie nodded cheerfully. "Yup!" With a tilt of her head, she gestured to Squall standing next to her. "This lame-o didn't wanna keep his costume, though!"

"Awww," Seifer teased. "Shit, I would've loved to see Squall look as sexy as you do."

Squall scowled. "Seifer..."

"Come on, Puberty Boy!" Seifer said, laughing at him. "Take a joke, will you?!"

"...."

Raijin, the one member of the group who wasn't as rambunctious as the others, turned to Squall with a pleasant smile. "What mission were you guys on, ya know?"

"Reconnaissance, basically," the commander said with a shrug. "There were some terrorists we needed to look for, but we weren't able to catch them. I don't expect to get a rest from this crap soon."

Squall, who has a tendency to kill conversations, fell silent as Raijin simply nodded in understanding.

Meanwhile, the other members of their little group continued to playfully chat.

Irvine put his arm around Selphie. "Well, Sefie, looks like you've become quite a looker," he jested smoothly. "Hotter than a summer day in the Kashkabald Desert."

Fujin arched an eyebrow. "CHEESY."

"More fiery than the deepest, hellish pits of Ifrit's cavern..." Irvine continued, wandering away from Selphie and moving his arms about dramatically. "You have more Firaga than the biggest Ruby Dragon--"

Seifer laughed at him. "Wow, Kinneas," he said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "You sure know how to win those girls over." Beat. "Please don't tell me you actually use those lines in real life..."

Squall rubbed his temples, watching as Selphie, Irvine, and even Seifer started going into uncontrollable bouts of laughter while carrying on with their silliness. _(Idiots...) _Why did he hang out with these people again?

Raijin looked at the three maniacs collapsing on the floor and began to retreat. Too much excitement for one night. "Ya know, I think I'll go now," he said carefully.

"ME TOO," Fujin said, a little weirded out herself.

"H-hey, Fujin, wait for me," Selphie managed to choke out through laughter, reaching out to the silver-haired cadet. She quickly pulled herself to her feet. "I wanna show myself to Rinny before I change." She breathed deeply, sobering up, and turned to Irvine. "Oh! And I wanna talk to you, Irvy," she added mystically. "Afterward."

_(Not wasting any time,)_ thought Squall, discreetly raising an eyebrow at Selphie's forwardness.

"Oooh... I wonder what for," Seifer piped up.

Irvine winked at the short Trabian girl. "Then I'll see you in my room later, little lady," he drawled in true cowboy style.

Squall rolled his eyes.

Selphie was about to head off, but then quickly halted, a question coming to mind. "Where are Zelly and Quisty?" Selphie asked. "Are they in?"

"Zell's on a date, ya know," Raijin, who for some reason hasn't left yet, explained. "With the library girl with the pigtail."

"Awww...!!" She clasped her hands together dreamily.

"And Quisty's at that instructor's workshop, ya know."

"I see... Okay! Squally, Fu-Fu," said Selphie merrily. "Let's go!!"

"I'm not Squally." _(And where am I going? I don't remember saying I was leaving--oh, that's right. Rinoa.)_ How many times has he forgotten about her today?

"You are _so_ Squally... Squally," Seifer joked.

"Yeah screw you, Seifer." Despite the words, even the brunet found himself saying them lightly in his own dry, subtle way.

"One can only dream!"

"SELPH," Fujin said, the slightest bit impatient. "COME."

"Coming!! Later!" She waved everyone goodbye, and followed Fujin and Squall to the dorms.

* * *

Zell took Brie to a new restaurant in Dollet called Calypso. It was crowded, as the two expected, but after fifteen minutes of waiting, they snagged a good table near one of the huge windows that faced the streets.

As they took their seats, Brie took some time to recollect what had happened since they first met up in the parking lot.

She had almost fainted when she saw him, his hair styled sexy but different, and his clothing fitting the contours of his body nicely. He looked a lot better than she expected. Not that he didn't look good already. Her shimmery green party dress and her curled brown hair was nothing in comparison.

His smile after she complimented him made her melt, especially after he complimented her outfit as well. She could've died and gone to heaven.

But other than that, their car ride to Balamb and the following train rides to Dollet were a little quiet.

Brie figured that the both of them were just nervous. She was sure this was Zell's first date, as it was hers. Moreover, she was so paranoid about getting everything right, making sure she didn't embarrass herself or the boy of her dreams. She figured that they would get more comfortable as time went by.

And yet, they were the same way during dinner. Quiet, a little awkward, and polite as if strangers. Brie couldn't help but feel let down. She wasn't having as good a time as she expected. She knew Zell was a fun person, at least, around his friends he was, but now, he was too quiet for, well, Zell. He wasn't the shy type.

It was up to her to amp up this date. So, taking all the courage she could muster, Brie decided to speak.

"I'm trying to make it to SeeD."

Zell drank some of his water. "Cool! That's great," he replied enthusiastically. "Good luck on that! Warning you, though... the written exam can be pretty tricky."

Brie blushed. "I'll keep that in mind."

_(You inspired me, Zell...)_

The uncomfortable silence swept over them again. To get rid of that, Zell luckily did some small talk. Small things like family life and favorite songs and movies. Otherwise, he seemed rather... distant.

But she was so in love with him; infatuated! She wasn't doing anything wrong, was she? Or was there just no chemistry on his part?

When they were both finished with their food, Zell (being a highly ranked SeeD with a large salary) paid the check, no questions asked, and left with her to just walk the streets before they had to be back for curfew.

Zell put his hands in his pocket. This date was really awkward for him. He liked the girl, but not enough to want to continue dating her. With her, he felt nothing. None of this lovey stuff he knew Squall and Rinoa had going on, no attraction. Sorry to say, he just wanted to go on a date, to see what it was like. Was that a bad thing? Maybe it was, but perhaps he could grow to like her if he just kept hanging out with her. By now, he could tell, quite easily, that she was head over heels for him.

It made him feel bad. But Zell wasn't dumb. He knew it wouldn't be wise to fake feelings for her out of pity.

The blond looked at the time on his watch. "We should head back," he said, trying to remain bright in his voice. It wasn't that easy. How did Selphie do it? Zell was usually pretty honest with his emotions. He wore his heart on his sleeve. He never masked things.

He turned to her, wondering why she didn't answer. Did she hear him? He found that she was leaning over the railing of the bridge gazing out at the city landscape, lights twinkling like stars. A nice setting for an unfortunately anticlimactic end to the night out.

There was an audible intake of breath from her, as if she was bracing herself for something. At this, Zell jumped, a little surprised.

"Uh..." he began, confused. What was her problem? He scratched the back of his head. "Brie?"

"How do you feel about me?" she asked quietly, not turning around.

He almost didn't hear her. "Uh.... huh?" he uttered with a blink, not sure if he had heard her right.

"Do you like me?" she queried, her voice a little louder; less shy.

"...." Zell frowned at her back. He did like her, but not in the way she would hope. He was always very friendly (to those who are nice back, of course) and easy to get along with. It was possible that he inadvertently led girls on that way, but it wasn't his intention. He never set out to hurt anyone unless they set out to mock and hurt him.

"I'm in love with you, Zell." She didn't look at him. "... back then, when we met up, that's what I meant to tell you. I had a feeling you wouldn't have... understood."

The martial artist suddenly recalled the time he saw her at Balamb Hotel. At the time, he had no idea what she was trying to say or why. He was pretty oblivious. Now it was quite clear.

There was an inscrutable gaze on his face as he cast his eyes downward. "Love?" he murmured, the word strange on his lips. A rare serious look graced his face.

"After that... catastrophe," she went on, as if he hadn't spoken up. Her voice was beginning to go off in a nervous ramble. "I tried again. I mean, during the post-Second Sorceress War party. You were so busy eating, that I didn't want to be a hindrance. You must've been hungry, and I-I don't know, I got preoccupied with staring at you and stuff that I didn't even say anything the rest of the night to you--"

Zell sighed. "Brie--"

"So... now I'm saying it, for real," she continued, turning to look at him. Her eyes were determined and certain. "I love you, Zell Dincht. For so long I've watched you from afar... I j-just couldn't help myself..."

The silence between them hung heavily in the air. He felt so bad, seeing that she was totally hopeful, gathering up all the courage she's accumulated for a long time just for a moment like this.

But his feelings (or lack thereof) didn't change.

She was probably observant enough to detect the lack of enthusiasm on his face, the twitch of doubt in his uneasy smile. He was sure that she knew everything about him and could sense every inkling of emotion from him. While it was flattering that she was so devoted to a mere SeeD like him, Zell found himself plainly unattracted to her. Sure, she was pretty, smart, and hardworking, but there wasn't anything about her that drew Zell to her in particular. Not romantically. Not physically.

Now how to tell her that without hurting her feelings.

He stuck his hands in his back pockets, something he often did in pensive, more serious situations. "Are you sure... you... love me?" he asked her stupidly.

"Zell," Brie said, almost desperately, "I've never felt this way about any other guy. Even when I liked Seifer Almasy for like, three months and Squall Leonhart after that! They were appealing, but I didn't fall for them the way I fell for you. You were way more special than that!"

"Look..."

Brie, sensing a negative reaction coming, kept going, as if trying to persuade him to change his mind. "I love you, Zell! Why else would I look all over for you in Balamb just to give you a magazine? Why else would I only pay attention to you when you're with your friends? And why else would I give you something as rare as a Mega Phoenix Down?"

"...." He hung his head, not knowing what to do in this situation. Obviously, Brie wasn't going to listen to him, or see things his way. What if they just went home without another word, and just forget this stuff entirely? Zell knew it wasn't the smartest choice, but it was all he wanted to do. He couldn't help that he didn't feel the way she wanted him to! Brie's persistence was getting aggravating, and Zell wasn't good about acting outwardly cool when he got angry. "Let's get home," he spoke up, changing the subject completely. "We need to get back by curfew."

He spun on his heel in the direction of the train, but he felt a thin hand suddenly wrap around his wrist, attempting to pull him back. Zell stopped, realizing that the library girl was _still_ not finished with him.

_(Hyne, keep me from wanting to strangle her...)_ he prayed.

Gritting his teeth to save face, Zell turned to look down at her, his patience wearing thin. "Listen," he said. "I'm sorry." He watched her face fall, and while he felt bad about being the cause of it, it wasn't enough to lessen his annoyance. "I just don't feel the same way. This date? I just wanted to experience one... It didn't have much to do with you in particular."

"No..."

"Sorry," he said again, more firmly. He didn't pull his wrist away from her, but his blue eyes were clearer than ever as he stared at Brie.

She bit her lip, unable to keep her head from ducking down as that powerful gaze rendered her helpless and speechless. He felt her grip on him withdraw, and he was free to move.

Zell let out a long breath through his mouth. "C'mon," he said, his tone becoming gentler and more buoyant. "We need to make it to the last train." He gestured forth with his head, hands at his sides as he began to lead.

But again, he was stopped.

Small arms wrapped themselves around his muscular waist, binding him in a vice-like grip. Out of surprise, Zell's eyes widened. He wasn't exactly expecting her to end up being this forward.

"Give me a chance," she said in a small voice. He could feel her face bury into his back, her lips grazing against his shirt as she spoke. "Please, Zell..."

Desperate, stubbornly clingy, unwilling to see the other side of the story, unable to understand... this wasn't the library girl Zell thought he knew. It made him ill that the night was ending like this, with a reckless, almost psychotic plea to win his heart; a far cry from his initial impression of her. Was this really her?

"Brie, stop," he replied quietly, grabbing her by the wrists and forcing her arms off of him easily. "This... isn't you." _(Right?)_ he added silently, turning around to look at her. He took a few steps back to keep distance. She immediately noticed, but didn't do anything to close in.

"You don't know me, Zell," she argued, turning frustrated. "You don't know how much I want you."

"Tch," he couldn't help but let out, rolling his eyes. "Judging from tonight, the hell I do!"

"That's a load of crap!" she cried, for once, her language a hint of crude. "You don't know that I love you too much to just let go." She made a grab for his arm, but Zell caught hers easily.

"I can't all of a sudden fall for you," he shot at her, his eyes flashing. "Being friends is enough!" His angry eyes didn't hesitate at her near tearful ones. "At least you'll have that from me, Brie! Shit!"

"But how much would I mean to you if we were just that?!"

"The hell...?" Zell couldn't believe the words coming out of her mouth. "What happened to you? I always thought you'd be smart enough to--"

"Smart enough to what?" she cried. "Smart enough to let things be? I wouldn't be here with you if I didn't take a step forward! You're as thick as a brick! How else am I going to make you come to me?!"

Zell shook his head, stepping away from her to cool his head. He just didn't understand why this was ending in such a disaster, and why she thought the way she did. He could feel his hands, clenched into fists at his sides, start to tremble, a clear indication that he was livid. But getting angry at a mere student librarian was quite different from getting angry at someone like Seifer; he wouldn't strike the girl. He may be hotheaded, but he wasn't a complete asshole. "Brie," he said finally, his words sour. "I'm not as dumb as you seem to think I am. I'm a Rank A SeeD, after all."

"...." Brie's eyes began to turn glassy. She was still in disbelief about the rejection hitting her in the face. "Then what a waste," she said in a shaky, but challenging tone. "After all I've done... to think I wasted all this time on you--"

"For fuck's sake!" Zell interjected loudly, spinning around to stare at her with fiery blue eyes. "It's not like I hate you! It's not like I don't appreciate what you've done! I just don't see you as anything more than a friend; that's fucking _all_ it is!" He watched her face as hurt, angry tears finally made their way down her cheeks. Sighing, he shoved his hands in his pockets, trying to lessen his irritation before he saw red. "Your crying's making me feel guilty," he said finally, his voice quiet and even. He looked around to see if people were looking their way and getting the wrong idea. "We should g--"

Before he could go on, he felt a sharp sting of pain as his face suddenly whipped to one side.

Brie had slapped him across the face.

Slowly, he turned back toward her, too appalled to notice the aching in his cheek. No one has ever done that to him before. No one ever had a reason to. It was different from a punch in the face. Punches between guys showed manliness and your strength. A slap to a man's face by a woman showed... that you were pretty much an asshole. A scummy guy. You weren't even a real man, then. At least, that's how Zell saw it.

"You should feel guilty," she whispered, glaring at him before sprinting off in the other direction, leaving him to just gape at her retreating back.

* * *

Rinoa, partially in study mode at the table in the living room, had finally gotten down to starting her reaserch project on her monster, when the sliding door suddenly opened. Rinoa tended to leave the door unlocked. For some reason, locking it made her feel like she was locking herself away from the rest of the world, and she hated to feel confined like that.

The sorceress looked up from her work, pleasantly surprised at the new arrivals. She nodded at Fujin in cheerful acknowledgement, and then mustered up a smile for her boyfriend, who she hasn't seen all day. "Squall!" she chirped. She stood up and went over to him for a tight hug.

Funny, it felt like every hug she's shared with him before, but now, it was beginning to feel empty. She didn't know if it was just her, or if Squall felt it, too (with him, it would be impossible to tell from observation alone), or if she had been so engrossed in her studies that she was just in a weird mood in general.

"Aww, the precious couple," Selphie cooed teasingly from behind Squall.

Over his shoulder, Rinoa finally spotted Selphie, letting out a long gasp. "You are _gorgeous_!" she cried, consequently breaking Squall's ear drum before pulling away from him. She sauntered up to the shorter girl to see her outfit up close. She had no idea that this was what happened if you put a SeeD in a sexy disguise. Truly, she could give any pretty girl at Garden a run for her money.

"Where's your disguise, Squall?" Rinoa asked out of nowhere, eyeing her boyfriend suspiciously. "You let me miss out on how hot you could've been?"

Squall snorted. "If you think looking like Vinzer Deling was hot, Rin, then I'm sorry."

Selphie giggled. "You mean you didn't think he was hot already?"

Rinoa laughed while Squall opted to roll his eyes.

Too tired to join in the light conversation, Fujin walked past them. "SHOWER," she announced briefly, heading to the bathroom and shutting the door behind her.

Squall looked at the time on his watch. "It's about that time for me to shower, too," he said.

Rinoa shrugged. "Yeah, you all must be tired." She waved at them both. "Bye!"

Selphie glanced at her confusedly. "Just bye?!" She looked between Squall and Rinoa.

The raven-haired cadet gritted her teeth, realizing that she and her boyfriend suddenly looked distant. Hell, they weren't even standing that close to each other. Squall was standing behind Selphie, having moved in the midst of their conversation, with Rinoa on the other side of the nunchaku specialist. Didn't they used to kiss good night? Didn't he used to stay a little longer with her than the others did? What happened to those months of romance, the passion? It almost made the sorceress sad that rush of puppy love was gone.

Rinoa looked at Squall. He looked back at her, seemingly unaware. He raised an eyebrow. "What?" he spoke up.

She tried not to frown. "Nothing," she said, managing to sound cheerful. She almost expected Squall to notice their distance, because even though he was a reserved person, he was quite observant of others.

Did he feel the same way? Although she knew she should be hurt, but it floored her that she wasn't.

"I have another long day tomorrow," Squall said, looking at the two girls as apologetically as the reserved, stoic-looking commander could muster. He shifted his blue-gray eyes to Selphie. "Good luck, Selph." Then to Rinoa herself. "Good night, Rin." He stepped backwards, causing the door to slide open. There was a pause, as if he had something to add, but seemed to change his mind as he turned and exited the room.

"What was _that_?" Selphie couldn't help but ask, looking at Rinoa quizzically after watching Squall disappear. She seemed concerned, wondering what could cause trouble in the paradise of the knight and sorceress.

"Eh... uh," Rinoa stalled, not wanting to confess anything just yet. She wasn't completely sure herself. "I think he's just tired," she finally lied, laughing. "You know how he is."

Fortunately, Selphie shrugged, accepting the excuse. "Yeah, I do!" she replied with a giggle. For a second, the sorceress thought she saw a far away look in those green eyes, and odd, thoughtful gaze that didn't seem befitting of Selphie at all. But a second later, it immediately disappeared, as if it happened by mistake.

Rinoa blinked, wondering what that meant, but didn't stop to ask. She didn't want to spoil the happy mood. "Well, never mind that," she piped up. "Why'd Squall wish you good luck?"

Selphie winked. "I thought it'd be obvious to you, Rin-Rin, Queen of Romance Movies." She gestured meaningfully at the stack of romance films on a shelf by the TV. Rinoa was such a sucker for them, and there have been many occasions where she has roped not only Squall, but the entire orphanage gang into watching them with her.

Rinoa's coffee-colored eyes widened. "No way! You're actually going to tell Irvine?" She wasn't new to Selphie's feelings toward the cowboy.

The brunette nodded enthusiastically. She did a little twirl to show off her look, which didn't seem worn at all, even after hours of being in the same costume and same face of makeup. "And with me looking like this, there's no way he can resist me! Haha!"

"Well, I wish you luck, too," Rinoa told her sincerely. "He'll forget about being such a flirt."

"I hope so, Rin-Rin." With that, Selphie turned and began to practically skip out the door, even in her high-heeled boots. "Have a good night!"

* * *

Selphie never knocked when it came to visiting Irvine. He knew this, too. There was a good amount of trust between the two of them, as best friends. So much so that they would enter each other's rooms is if they were their own.

However, it was something Raijin, as Irvine's roommate, had to get used to.

The spunky Trabian entered cheerfully through the door. Immediately, she noticed the cowboy absent from the living room, but instead, found Raijin sitting at the table, looking like he was tightening a section of his quarterstaff. He didn't seem to notice the additional presence in the room.

Selphie skipped up to him and poked him in the shoulder, thus startling him out of his seat and causing him to drop the weapon soundly on the table.

"Wha?! You?!" he sputtered.

"Mm-hm!" she replied with an affirmative nod. "Here to see Irvy... so.. um... shoo!" She reached over and grabbed the muscular cadet by the arm, somehow able to pull the much bigger boy to the door.

Raijin looked as if he remembered something, pausing carefully as he stopped outside of the door. "Oh, uh... Irvine, you say?"

"Mm-hm!"

He gave her a half-frown, which Selphie, too preoccupied with her one-track mind, didn't seem to acknowledge. "Well, he ran into someone on his way here, ya know, and I think--"

"Well, whatever, ya kno--er, whatevs, okay?" she interrupted, correcting herself. She didn't want to use either Raijin's nor Squall's catchphrases.

Raijin stared at her, his brows furrowed. "But--"

She waved at him cutely. "It's okay. I'll talk to you later. Go see Seifer. I'm sure that big brute could use some company!"

Raijin still looked puzzled, but Selphie just wanted to get certain things over with first. Luckily for her, though, the ex-Committee member gave her a parting nod before walking away.

The door slid shut behind him. Selphie, now alone for the moment with her thoughts, heaved a big sigh and turned, mentally psyching herself up for the big confession.

* * *

Raijin, meanwhile, couldn't believe such a petite, scrawny little SeeD managed to kick him out of his own room. In a way, he felt bad that he didn't get to tell her what he wanted to tell her in the midst of her excited yapping, but hopefully she wouldn't take it too hard. She was the optimistic one who got over things quickly, wasn't she? For her, wasn't there a sunny side to every situation?

Now bored, Raijin meandered down the halls, not really heading to Seifer's in particular. He was unarmed, therefore unable to head to the Training Center, and was definitely not in the mood for something like browsing the quiet library. He wasn't nearly close enough to the other people in their clique except Fujin and Seifer, but he _did_ spend nearly the entire day with them already. While he had no problem with being with them for long periods of time, a man needed some of his solitary time and space.

"Let me guess," he heard a tired voice speak up from behind him. "Selphie kicked you out."

"Oh, uh, Squall," Raijin said, turning around to see the commander fall into stride with him. "Yeah, ya know." He made a face. "Not sure what the urgency was about. Couldn't she talk to him while I was there, ya know?"

Squall rolled his eyes. "Great. What I was afraid of," he murmured under his breath.

"Huh?"

The brunet shook his head. "She wanted privacy, I suppose, to confess her feelings for Irvine."

Raijin blinked. "Uhh... wow. I wish I'd known, ya know." He felt guiltier now that he understood what Selphie's purpose for her visit was.

Squall raised an eyebrow, silently prompting the quarterstaff specialist to go on.

"I mean," Raijin elaborated, frowning slightly. "Irvine brought a girl over, ya know. Went straight to his room..." He stared off to the side. "Selphie practically shoved me out the door before I could tell her that, ya know."

He actually saw his commander make a face, possibly out of concern for his frequent teammate. Raijin had never seen Squall give an outwardly emotional response to anything, but it fascinated him that Squall wasn't as uncaring as he initially thought. Hell, he didn't know he was even capable of loving Rinoa... or anyone, for that matter.

"I told her not to pursue him," he confessed quietly. "He'll only break her heart. I know so, but..." He tsked. "There's no stopping her."

"Well, hopefully he doesn't hurt her too badly, ya know," Raijin offered lightly. "I mean, it's Selphie, right? Ya know?"

Raijin suddenly found the two of them in the section of the single dorms. Specifically, in front of Squall's dorm room. The commander unlocked his door while replying to the cadet's words. "Don't underestimate her emotions," Squall told him stoically. The door slid open. "She acts tough, but I think she's actually more sensitive than she lets on." He shrugged, glancing at Raijin out of the corner of her eye. "In a way, she's like me."

Raijin stared at him. That was rather insightful... he didn't imagine words like that out of Squall, especially in regards to Selphie. Maybe those two got along a lot better than he realized. It gave him a new perspective of Squall...

"Hey!"

Both of them craned their necks to see Seifer, unexpectedly enough, approaching them, looking visibly upset. He still had his Hyperion with him, still as scuffed as the blond himself was. Meaning, he hadn't gone back to his room at all since leaving the Training Center.

"It's almost curfew," Squall scolded him lamely. "Don't yell in the halls."

"That bastard Ralse took my keycard!" Seifer spat, ignoring the commander's words. "_And_ he won't let me in!" He looked at Raijin. "Remember, Rai? How that fucker crashed into me on the way out?"

Raijin did remember the unnecessarily rude way the less-than-friendly cadet bumped into Seifer, taunting him as Seifer actually stumbled off balance and fell to the ground on his rear. "Yeah," he recalled. "It was pretty hard, ya know. You guys fought. Then some things fell outta your pocket and--"

"--he picked it up and ran the hell away," Seifer finished for him, enraged. "Asshole knew I could beat the sh--"

"You fought?" Squall interrupted, less than amused.

"He started it," Seifer insisted. "Called me a sorceress' bitch and threw the first punch. And I'm a man, Leonhart. I don't take shit from anyone. I had to hit back!"

"Whatever," the commander said, holding a hand up to stop Seifer from continuing. "I can go talk to him, if you want. Settle this all."

"That's sweet of you, Squally dear," Seifer said, rolling his eyes. "But I don't wanna look like a little snitch, either."

"You just uh, did, ya know," Raijin interjected.

"Fuck that," Seifer said, sighing defeatedly. "I'm too tired to deal with this crap. Puberty Boy, don't you have keycards to every dorm room?"

"... In my office..." Squall said, his voice drifting off as if he had something additional to say, but was afraid to let it out.

Raijin looked from him to Seifer, fully aware that the commander was too reluctant to offer what _he_ knew Seifer was silently hinting at.

And finally...

"Fine," Squall said, his voice coming out more as a grumble. "You can take my couch for the night."

"I knew you'd do my bidding," Seifer managed to snicker, despite his situation.

"A thank you would've sufficed," Squall said dryly. He turned to Raijin. "How about you? What are you going to do?"

"Yeah, Rai," Seifer joined in. "What the hell are you doing out?"

Raijin explained to him the situation about Selphie kicking him.

The blond cadet made a low whistle. "Damn... sorry to say, but Irvy there's a bit of a douche in the love department." He then laughed, shaking his head. "Can't believe a short twig of a SeeD managed to kick _you_ out of your own room."

Raijin shrugged. "Stronger than I thought she was, ya know. Hopefully she didn't lock me out. My keycard's in my bedroom, ya know."

Squall scowled, crossing his arms. "Well... I guess you can take the floor or something if that's the case..."

"Slumber party!" Seifer cheered, his voice mockingly squeaky to imitate any of their female friends. "Fuck yeah!" With Squall's door already open, Seifer strolled in before the commander himself had a chance to.

"What did I get myself into?" Squall thought out loud.

* * *

Selphie didn't know how long she had been mentally psyching herself up for her big confession, but it was perhaps more than enough. Her feet were already getting tired from standing in one place for so long, tense at her post next to the living room table. She considered sitting down for a second, to force herself to relax, but she was just so full of energy!

So instead, she gave herself a mental push toward Irvine's bedroom door, softly stepping up to give it a firm knock.

But before her knuckles hit the metal of sliding door, she heard an unfamiliar giggle.

Her fist paused uncertainly in place.

It was a female one, followed quickly by a quite familiar male shush and playful muttering she couldn't make out.

_(No way...)_ she thought, her eyebrows furrowed. Distractedly, her arm fell to her side.

She had to be dreaming. Her legs felt like jelly because of the dismayed shock she felt. A terrible sinking of her heart to her stomach suddenly began to creep into her, hurting her more than she imagined she would be.

Don't get her wrong. Selphie knew about the rumors about the playboy Irvine and his messing around with other girls. But Selphie was supposed to be different. _She_ was his Sefie. His best friend; the special one who got the most (non-sexual) benefits. And now, he couldn't even remember that she wanted to talk to him? He chose to _do_ things with some random girl he flirted with instead of hearing his dearest childhood friend out?

She thought they had a silent, but total understanding between them. Irvine had always been able to read her like a book, and vice versa. She thought he would've gotten the hint, but she guessed he didn't. That, or he didn't care to.

Her stomach curled into itself, making her entire body ache.

Before the Trabian realized it, the door slid open, revealing a jacket-less, messy-haired, unkempt cowboy, who had obviously been played with by the dark-haired female (equally unkempt) standing curiously behind him, next to his bed.

"Sefie!" Irvine exclaimed, obviously surprised. "Whatcha doin' here?"

_(Don't act so surprised,) _she grumbled silently, faking a smile toward the auburn-haired gunman.

The girl, previously hidden in the shadows of the darkened bedroom, suddenly stepped closer to the doorway, adjusting her school uniform on the way. Now lit up by the overhead light of the living room, Selphie recognized her as that pigtailed girl's fellow library committee member. She was much prettier than the nunchaku specialist remembered her, with brown-black hair in a high ponytail, and deep violet eyes.

"Wow, Selphie Tilmitt in the flesh!" she spoke up brightly, seemingly starstruck. "You are so pretty!"

_(Don't be nice to me.)_ Despite the compliment, Selphie felt ugly next to her, needing a total makeover to look this good compared to this stranger's natural beauty. "Thanks," she managed to say, not looking at her directly in the eye. "We had a... disguise mission."

The librarian nodded. "Ooh, yeah, Irvine here told me all about it." Much to brunette's chagrin, the girl ran a flirty finger up his muscular arm. Irvine winked at her, offering a teasing smile before turning back to Selphie.

"Ah, Sefie," he said, "this is Alethea D'Artemus. She's applying for SeeD this year." He said the girl's name in a jokingly regal tone.

Alethea smiled sweetly at the Trabian. "Well, that's my full name. Just call me Thea. Everyone does."

Alethea had a pretty name. Prettier than her own. Maybe even _too_ pretty for it to be a normal name. This wasn't some obsessive author's self-inserted love story.

Still, Selphie felt envy well up inside her, but she pushed it down to save face. "You have a nice name," she replied, hoping those drama classes at T-Garden paid off.

"Thanks," Alethea quipped.

Selphie didn't want her to be nice. She didn't want her friendliness. She wanted that ponytailed girl to hate her, be jealous, glare at her... something. She just didn't want to befriend this girl. But nonetheless, she kept that fake smile on her face.

Selphie decided then, that she would refuse to refer to Alethea by her nickname. There was no way she wanted to be on friendly terms with this girl.

Irvine suddenly smacked his forehead, suddenly remembering something. He glanced down at Selphie, apologetic. "Sorry, Sef, I forgot. Didn't you want to talk to me? It's just that I bumped into Thea. She's in one of my classes--"

"I can leave now," Alethea interjected. "It's probably past lights out, anyway."

"Oh, no!" Selphie insisted, putting her hands out in front of her. "It's not that important." She smiled up at Irvine. "I'll see you later?"

He eyed her warily, as if not believing her. He then turned to Alethea. "Hey, Thea?" he piped up. "Can you meet me in the Secret Area later?"

_(What?!)_ Selphie inwardly cringed. _(Im dreaming, Im dreaming...)_

"Of course," Alethea tilted her head to the side. "I could use some training on the way, anyway." She glanced between them. "Everything okay?"

_(Butt out!)_ Selphie wanted to scream, but couldn't.

"It's nothing, darling. See ya there." With that irritatingly beautiful grin, he waved as Alethea sauntered to the front door and exited, much to Selphie's relief.

As soon as the ponytailed girl was gone, Irvine immediately took Selphie's arm and sat her down on the couch in the living room. Selphie didn't know whether she should feel hurt or lovestruck by the gesture.

"What's wrong, Sefie?" he asked, not beating around the bush. "And don't say it's nothing. I know you."

Selphie stared at him, trying not to let that smile on her face falter. "What? You're bonkers, Irvy!"

But it was hard to keep her voice optimistic when she had so many negative emotions running around inside her.

"Please, Sefie," he sighed. "Anyway, so like, what did you need to talk to me about?"

Suddenly, Selphie didn't want to be there anymore. She wanted to run off and escape to her room. And then... she didn't know, but she had a feeling that she might cry after that. "Irvy," she started slowly, "it's not really that important after all. Forget I said anything." She laughed, hoping to lighten the mood, but the anxiety in her voice was evident.

"... Are you sure?" He looked more serious than before.

"So, uh, is she your girlfriend or something?" Selphie interrogated bouncily from out of nowhere.

Irvine looked confused for a second about the change of topics. "Well..." he mustered hesitantly, "not really. It's just a fling, y'know?" His lips eased into another lopsided grin. "You know me and women. And she isn't lookin' for anything serious either, so--"

"You think you'll settle down and find a steady girlfriend?" she asked, hinting lightly. But oops, maybe a little too enthusiastic there.

He chuckled. "Ya crazy, Sef?"

Obviously, he didn't get the hint. She forced a giggle. "C'mon, Irvy! You have girls falling all over your lap! Especially after that Ultimecia fiasco!"

Irvine's laugh died down, his steel blue eyes staring off distantly. "To be serious, I'm just not ready for anything committed, y'know?"

"Mm..."

"It makes me feel restricted, I guess," he went on. "I mean, to put it in an ass-ish manner, I'd want the freedom to mess 'round with any woman I want at any time."

Selphie cringed inwardly. _(He's right; that's... ass-ish...)_

"So like, even with a girlfriend, I'd probably be one helluva heartbreaker," he concluded. "I mean, it's part of my charming personality, right, Sefie? The girl'd be checkin' on all my phone and e-mail records, watching my every move..."

"What if the girlfriend was a really good friend who wouldn't mind it that much?" she interjected. She hid the incoming blush by rubbing her cheeks, as if she were cold. "I mean, hypothetically speaking?"

"Ya mean if it was someone like you?"

"Uh... yeah!"

Irvine frowned, much to her dismay. "I wouldn't wanna risk it if it was you. I'd rather keep the friendship we have." He let out a light chuckle. "But c'mon, what're the chances? You're not my type. And I'm not yours, right?"

_(Ouch...)_

She shrugged, numbly laughing along with him. She glanced at the door. All of a sudden, leaving sounded like the best idea ever.

"Okay," she heard Irvine sigh, "so like, what didja _really_ come here for, Sef?"

She didn't look at him as she stood up. "Oh dang!" She exclaimed from out nowhere. "I forgot I had a mission report to do!"

"Wha...?"

"Some other time, Irvy! Tee-hee!" She practically ran to the door before he could interject. It slid open, and after stepping one foot out, she added, "Besides... I totally forgot what I was gonna tell you!"

She heard him stand up from the couch. "Hey, Sefie..." There was a bit of hurt in his voice, which was understandable. Selphie never kept secrets from him. She never hid anything from her best friend. She has never even hid her facial expression from his concerned gaze until now.

But it's different when you had feelings toward that said friend.

"Bye!" she called out, and escaped to her room.

Both fortunately (and in some ways, unfortunately) for her, he didn't follow.

* * *

It was morning.

Squall's alarm clock rang loudly throughout the silent room.

From under his covers, his hand popped out and feebly felt around for the wretched thing on his sidetable. When he felt nothing there, he angrily sat up, noticing that for some reason, it had gone missing.

The ringing painfully annoying in his ears, Squall frantically searched all the drawers of the sidetable, under the covers, his pillow, and under hsi bed, but couldn't find that stupid alarm clock. There was no way it could have possibly moved by itself anywhere else, unless...

"SEIFER!" Squall yelled.

He heard laughing from outside his room.

Squall let out a string of curses under his breath.

He finally found the alarm clock behind the headboard, stuck between it and the wall. He pulled it out in a swift motion and turned it off, sighing in relief. Silence at last. After setting it back onto his table, he got out of bed and trudged out of the room, only to be greeted by a grinning Seifer leaning against the wall next to the door.

"Morning, Pumpkin," he said in a singsong voice.

"You really like those homosexual jokes, don't you?" Squall said, shooting him a glare.

Seifer shrugged. "Anyway, now that your ass is up, I think it's time to get a keycard to my room. I mean, while I still have time before homeroom."

_(Oh, that's right,)_ Squall thought. _(Forgot about why he was even here in the first place. Hyne, what a hassle.) _"Whatever," he told the taller boy, making his way to the bathroom.

"Whatever?! This is my damn room, Commander! I don't wanna go to class all filthy and outta uniform. Cicero'll kill me during third period."

_(Since when did Seifer decide to follow authority?)_ Squall shut the bathroom door. "Yeah, yeah, we will," he said through the door.

"That's a better answer."

As soon as Squall was refreshed, he and Seifer left the room and proceeded down the hallway. It wasn't too long until they ran into a familiar face walking around in the dorm area.

"Mornin', Messenger Girl," Seifer said cheerfully. "You're totally doing the walk of shame..." His tone was hinting. "Hair's the same as last night."

Selphie, who had fallen into step with them, obviously slept in the clothes she was wearing. Her makeup was slightly smeared, and her hair was bedheadedly messy, but still rather straight.

And was Squall imagining things, or did her eyes seem puffy? If she had been crying, then he wasn't surprised that Irvine had rejected her. Nonetheless, a tiny feeling of pity for her and a small ounce of anger toward the cowboy crept up into the commander.

"Morning, Seifer," she still replied with a smile, acknowledging both of the boys like a bouncy little puppy wagging its tail. "Yeah, I usually curl it in the mornings--"

"Your normal hair is _curled_?!" the taller boy interrupted incredulously. "It's not natural?!"

"Hmph. You say that like curling my hair is a bad thing..."

"Well, come on, Messenger Girl," Seifer said, rolling his eyes. "You looked much better without those kiddy curls. I say drop the little girl act and be sexy Selphie every day."

"You just complimented me!" Selphie exclaimed. "Seifer, are you aware of that?!"

Seifer raised an eyebrow. "Hell? I did?" he frowned. "Well, _shit_." He had probably meant to playfully insult her, but it just didn't come out that way.

_(There's always just leaving it at that; a compliment,) _Squall thought quickly, but didn't say this out loud. He didn't want to intervene.

"You know," she said, her words echoing Squall's line of thought, "I can perfectly accept that compliment... you don't need to correct yourself. Tee-hee."

Seifer, who was pondering what he should respond with, finally gave in, shrugging. "Couldn't think of anything, anyway," he said. He pointed a finger at her. "Doesn't mean you're getting away unscathed."

She made a playfully mean face at him and then glanced over at Squall, who was, of course, much quieter than she and the ex-knight. "Heya, Squall," Selphie spoke up. "You need to talk louder!"

_(I didn't say anything...)_ Squall glanced down at her, watching her puffy, but tearless eyes as they turned to gaze straight ahead. Something was itching at him to ask her how things with Irvine went last night, even though he already knew the outcome. Why he was hesitating in saying anything out loud, he didn't know. More than likely, it was because he didn't want to bring it up with Seifer around, but other than that, it might be because he wasn't used to being warm; being a _friend_.

In the end, he remained silent.

The rest of the trip to Squall's office and back to the doubles' side of the dorms was mainly uneventful. None of them had run into other people they knew, and Seifer and Selphie mainly conversed about his situation on the way back.

"Hey, my room's like, right there," Seifer announced, pointing ahead.

Squall nodded and fished for the appropriate keycard from the ring of innumerous ones. The door unlocked, Seifer whooped and charged right in. Selphie and Squall followed him in. As the two SeeDs came to a stop behind the blond cadet, they noticed a complete turnaround in his facial expression. Now his eyes were wide with disbelief, his jaw slack.

"What?" Squall asked him, and then, to answer his own question, moved his eyes from Seifer to his room.

Seifer's room had been ransacked. His belongings were strewn everywhere: clothing ripped from the hangers, his bedsheets crumpled up, and his school uniform literally torn to shreds.

But what took the cake was the graffiti on his walls.

"Oh, Seifer..." Selphie couldn't help but mumble in sympathy.

Squall mouth twisted into a deep scowl. Harsh, angry red letters covered the once bland-white of the bedroom walls. Unforgiving insults glared at him, such as LAPDOG, TRAITOR, and ULTIMECIA'S BITCH, just to name a few of the lesser vulgar ones.

"Wasn't everything going to be all right again?" he suddenly heard Seifer murmur. Squall couldn't tell if he meant to speak this out loud, or if he accidentally vocalized his inner thoughts. "Wasn't I going to have a second..." The taller gunbladist sighed to himself.

For a minute, that odd swelling feeling of heroism crept up in the commander, as if he wanted to _comfort_ his apparent archrival. _(Oh, god... I care about this idiot...)_ Squall realized, inwardly horrified. Who knew?

"Fuck this," came Seifer's sharp mutter, pulling Squall out of his thoughts. The brunet looked up only to see the blond shove both him and Selphie out of his way, toward the door. "Fuck this school."

"Seifer!" the Trabian cried out, turning quickly to grab his arm with both her hands.

"_What_, Tilmitt?" he growled. "I didn't come back for this! I didn't come back to have all this fucking ridicule and have these people turn their backs on me _on top of_ everyone in the outside world!"

"But--"

"Let me go, Messenger Girl," he cut in harshly. He pulled against her grip, but Selphie was surprisingly strong, her hold on him hardly weakening.

"_We_ believe in you," Selphie pleaded insistently. "The _orphanage gang_ believes in you! Fujin and Raijin do, too! So does Rinny!"

He turned away from her and Squall, glaring at the door. "So?"

"Isn't that enough?" she asked him. "Isn't that all you need? We're your friends!"

"Are you?" Seifer challenged, finally able to wrestle his arm away. He pointed at her and Squall. "It wasn't that long ago when every one of you hated me. For various fucking reasons. What kind of person just has a change of heart so fast?!"

Squall rolled his eyes. Back to this stuff again? "Obviously," he finally spoke up, his voice catching the attention of his companions, "you didn't listen to a word we said yesterday."

The blond growled at him. "Shut up, Puberty--!"

"You need to bury that Knight part of you," Squall went on calmly, ignoring him. "What the hell's wrong with you, Seifer? It's not like you to give up. Remember how many times you continuously tried out for SeeD?"

Without anything to bite back at him, Seifer could only shove his hands in his pockets and glower at his feet.

_(He's listening,)_ Squall observed. Almost out of reflex, he glanced at Selphie, who nodded at him approvingly to go on. _Be a friend!_ her pretty, pretty eyes told him, and he had no choice but to listen.

"We don't need to be reminded about how you were and what you did," Squall continued coolly. "We know. But we want to forget and start over. This world is at peace now, and we must take advantage of the rebirths that peace offers."

Seifer nodded in a way that seemed somewhat reluctant. Squall could tell that the ex-knight was still quite stubborn about being wrong, but as long as he did the right thing rather than rebel, it was fine with him.

Squall hid a smile, secretly glad he calmed his 'frenemy' down. "Anyway," he said. "Get ready." He motioned at Seifer's ruined uniform. "Ask Irvine if he has an extra uniform. You guys are almost the same height. I'll talk to the headmaster, and Selphie..." He glanced at her up and down, unconsciously checking her out. It wasn't something he really _meant_ to do, but before he could stop himself, he spotted the playful look on her face.

"Want me to stay in these clothes, Pervy?" she giggled. She posed sexily, putting her hands on her hips and shifting her weight to call attention to her hips. "Anything you want, Mr. Commander."

Seifer seemed to lighten up immediately. Squall gritted his teeth. _(He would, just so he can make fun of me...)_ "Oh-ho! What's Rinoa gonna say?!" he teased, nudging Squall.

"Cut it out. I just wanted to tell you to get ready in case we have SeeD business," Squall snapped, immediately turning on his heel to head toward the door. He didn't want them to see his face, which was turning slightly red. "Seifer," he barked, "what's your roommate's name?"

The blond sobered up some. "Ralse... Triton, I think."

"Thank you." Squall left the room before he could embarrass himself any more.

Now in the company of only Selphie, Seifer plopped himself down on the sofa, his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward.

She sat down next to him. "Well!" she said brightly, glancing at him with a smile.

He gave her a look. "What're you still doing here?" he asked her. "Don't you have SeeD shit to do?"

Selphie shrugged. "Not really."

"..."

"Come on, you don't you wanna play with me?" she whined. "I have time to kill."

"Play with you?!" Seifer repeated incredulously, shifting away from her self-consciously. "You're not five, Tilmitt! That has a whole new meaning at this age!"

"Aww, I was kidding around," she giggled. "I just didn't want you to feel all... down and stuff because of your roommate."

"Yeah, well, _thanks_ for bringing that up again," he retorted, rubbing his temples. "Hyne, you really haven't changed since we were little. Stupid Sefie who acted younger than she really was..."

That caught her attention. "You remember stuff from back then?" she asked him, intrigued.

He snorted, his gaze suddenly far away. "More than you think. I'm sure your GFs have poisoned you by now, but my memories of the orphanage were pretty strong." Seifer smirked distantly. "You might not remember anything about you, me, and Kinneas."

Selphie blinked. "I remember me and Irvy..." She blushed hotly at the mention of his name. "But... as far as you were concerned, you were just a big bully. Like always."

"Nah, not all the time," he sighed. He scratched the back of his head. "I was more than that, I guess... you wouldn't know, though."

The two went silent just then. A pensive Seifer was making her feel awkward, but with Irvine plaguing her mind again, she couldn't think of anything else to say.

Selphie glanced at her watch. There was still time left until class started; why not talk about memories she could barely hold on to? It would take both their minds off of their respective problems. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to bond with him a little.

"Remind me, Seifer," she said out of the blue.

"Huh?"

"What you know about the orphanage days, of course!" She smiled eagerly. "Tell me about what you were like back then... when you were with me and Irvy. It might trigger something in my brain."

"... Why do you care? Ask your boytoy Kinneas if--"

"No!" she quickly interjected, surprising him briefly. "Come onnn," she begged.

He raised an eyebrow at her, finding her quick dismissal of Irvine a little weird. Nonetheless, he relented, slumping into the back of his couch in relaxation. "Fine," he told her. "I'm not a good storyteller, so don't whine if I'm too cut and dry for you."

She nodded.

"Well, as I guess you remember, or been told," he began, "Squall loved Sis, and stuck with her all the time like the pathetic little brother figure he was. Quisty loved _him_, so she basically stalked him and wormed her way into their little group--"

"That's a mean way of putting it," Selphie broke in apprehensively.

"Told you so," he replied, and continued. "Anyway, Chickenwuss hated me (as I hated him), so when I wasn't picking on him, he either stuck by Matron like a mama's boy or stalked Squall alongside our dear instructor. I mean, before he got adopted."

"So that left the three of us..." Selphie reasoned slowly.

"Exactly," said Seifer. "We formed our own alliance. Sorta like--"

"A posse!" she finished for him. "Weird though, I thought it was only me and..." she didn't end her sentence. "I mean, when _he_ first told us about the orphanage, you were hardly mentioned. Minus the stuff about Zelly, I guess."

"Yeah, well." Seifer shrugged. He didn't seem to notice her refusal to drop Irvine's name; that, or he didn't have the desire to acknowledge it. "Given the situation at the time... I guess I was purposefully left out."

"Hm."

The two were quiet for awhile, lost in thought. Moments later, the Trabian spoke up again. "How do you remember all this, Seif? You used a GF as much as we did, right? Heck, even more because you tried out for SeeD more than once!"

Seifer sighed again, almost blissfully. "When Matron first bailed me out, she took me to her house. It was in the middle of renovations, so there wasn't much shit to see. She needed another hand, so I helped her sort through stuff, and that included photo albums." A smile appeared on his face, small but with fondness. "Looking at them made me remember a lot." It turned more grim. "It's almost kind of sad, seeing what we've... I've... become during the sorceress thing."

Selphie watched his face, regret etched in his eyes and on his lips. Putting a hand on top of his, she gently caught his attention. When he turned to face her, she grinned reassuringly. "Well, things'll be different!" she exclaimed determinedly. "Squally wants us to look forward, so that's what we'll do!"

Seifer seemed a bit stunned by her forwardness, but the smirk that followed displayed his inner gratitude toward the waifish brunette. "I guess that means you, me, and Kinneas can pick up from where we left of. Eh, Sefie?"

Selphie's thoughts immediately went back to Irvine when she heard her nickname. "Of course," she said, trying not to sound hesitant in her reply. Irvine has called her Sefie longer than anyone else had, and it was a rude reminder of the night before. His indirect rejection affected her more than she thought it would. It caused her happy mood to drift in and out, and it irritated her to no end. But for some reason, she just couldn't help herself.

"Is something wrong with you?" she heard Seifer speak up.

She whipped around to face him, suddenly aware of her surroundings. "What? Why would you say that?"

"You just fucking shifted your eyes to the ceiling!" Seifer said accusingly. "Don't tell me you narrate in your head like some dumbass!"

"Tee-hee, maybe I do!" she said quickly. She didn't feel like boring Seifer with the sordid details of her love life. She pulled herself to her feet. "Well, time to go!" she cheered, stretching her arms above her head. "I need to freshen up still." She raced out the door before he could say anything else.

It was probably suspicious of her to suddenly leave like that, but Seifer didn't seem like the type to think about those things, not for more than a few seconds, at least. Just as well. He had other things to think about, anyway.

She slowed herself as she went further down the hallway, taking her time. She was in no hurry heading back to her suddenly much lonelier room.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** _I originally had a bunch of Zodiac stuff here. I shortened the majority of it, though. For some reason, I'm superstitious about having too long of author notes. Anyway._

_I used to be quite obsessed with astrology, and I thought it'd be fun to see how the main cast lined up. You might be surprised. _

_Descriptions come from the book __**Secrets of the Signs **__by Stacey Wolf._

_---_

_**Squall (Virgo cusped with Leo)/Rinoa (Pisces).**_ Complete opposites. Good match for a while, but problems can arise from a Pisces' need for an emotional connection at all costs, while Virgo tends to be too realistic about the details.

_**Squall/Quistis (Libra).**_ Virgos take love more serious than Libras, and are too detail-oriented for them. Libras see this as more abrasive than as perfecting. Virgos are too practical and hardworking for frivolous things Libras like. Also, Virgos try to step in and take control when Libras get wishy-washy, and that makes the latter feel too unbalanced.

_**Squall/Selphie (Cancer).**_ Complement each other. Both strive for security. Cancer's devotion makes Virgo feel needed, and his/her emotional nature brings out Virgo's hidden passions. Both are way too critical.

_**Seifer (Capricorn)/Rinoa.**_ Caps tend to dismiss lazy and delicate people, but when they see those qualities in a Pisces, they want to jump in and save them. Pisces will give the Cap lots of love and affection and will admire the Cap's strength. Both are moody, but Pisces can uplift the Cap, who enjoys being appreciated by the Pisces.

_**Seifer/Quistis.**_ A Cap will choose his/her friends/romances very carefully and seriously, but Libras will hang out with everyone. Libras are charmers, but Caps wouldn't easily fall for that and would prefer a more practical, down-to-earth partner.

_**Seifer/Selphie.**_ Would take a lot of adjustment. Both are homebodies and financially prudent. Cancers are sensitive and dependent while Caps are emotionally aloof. On one level, a Cancer's emotional detachment makes the Cap feel safe, but when the former gets overemotional and clingy, a Cap will want to dismiss them and get on with things.

_**Zell (Pisces)/Rinoa.**_ Both are sensitive, emotional, and dependent. Both hate reality, and best at avoiding what they don't want to see. Both homebodies who like to spend hours in illusionary bliss, but fantasy can quickly fade.

_**Zell/Quistis.**_ Both like finer things in life, but this can get them only so far. Pisces can get attached quickly, but in return, a Libra will work late, run off to social engagements, and do whatever it takes to avoid emotional entrapment. Pisces is too sensitive for this treatment.

_**Zell/Selphie.**_ Cancers can be hard to read because their emotions are hidden under the surface, but Pisces can tell exactly what they need and give it to them. Pisces sees the Cancer as a secure and devoted partner who will love doting on them as much as the other will dote on thme. However, they both have lots of mood swings.

_**Irvine (Sagittarius)/Rinoa.**_ Besides some sexy kissing, there's nothing a Sag really likes about a Pisces. Sags need independence while the Pisces is dreamy, sensitive, and emotionally dependent. They would want to lean on the Sag 24/7, but it won't last long before the Sag is off exploring life with someone else.

**Irvine/Quistis.** The romance is a real charmer. Flirty Sag loves the Libra's elegant, artistic, and easygoing nature. Libra will by no means crowd the Sag, who will inspire him/her to be more adventurous.

_**Irvine/Selphie.**_ Will intrigue each other, but there're more problems than solutions. Sags see love as a fun exploration while Cancers see it as an intimate, dependent union. Sags want someone chatty and energetic, but Cancers want an understated, emotional homebody.

---

_SO. There will be some slight relationship-related changes concerning Irvine, but it won't change the story too significantly. I'm busy at school, so I'm not sure when I'll have the next chapter or the next chapter re-boot done, but I'll get there. Heh._


	4. III: Balamb Garden Blues

**A/N:** _GRAMMAR FIXES AHOY!_

**Disclaimers:** Final Fantasy VIII will never be mine; it will always belong to Square-Enix, Tetsuya Nomura, Hironobu Sakaguchi, etc.

* * *

**III. The Balamb Garden Blues**

The commander walked briskly up the stairs to the elevator. Just as he got there, he heard a little ping.

The elevator door opened, revealing a stoic Ralse Triton. Just the guy he was looking for. He was no stranger to the Squall; they had taken the written SeeD exam together the year before and Ralse failed.

The cadet nodded at the commander and started to step out, but Squall stopped him by clamping his hand down on his shoulder and entering the lift.

"You're coming with me, Cadet Triton," Squall said to him coolly as he pressed the button for 3F. "There's something we need to discuss."

Ralse played dumb. "Like what, sir? I have to go to homeroom."

Squall's voice turned quiet with anger. "Does vandalism sound familiar? Or maybe we should head back to Almasy's room to remind you."

Ralse shrugged, but his face poorly masked his guiltiness. "Sir, if you're accusing me of something, you're definitely mistaken―"

"We'll see, Triton," Squall interrupted as the elevator doors opened to the third floor. He quietly led the cadet to the headmaster's office.

Cid's desk stood in the back, behind the elevator leading to the bridge, smack in the middle of the floor. Out in the open. Squall couldn't imagine how annoying it would be to have an office without a door. And thus, was thankful that he did.

Quistis, who was talking with the headmaster in a meeting of some sort, looked up when the two of them approached, glancing curiously from Squall to the cadet at his side.

"Is there a problem?" Cid questioned, an eyebrow raised.

Squall nodded curtly. "A problem with vandalism. Seifer Almasy was caught in a scrimmage with Triton here yesterday. Almasy's keycard was allegedly stolen by Triton and was refused entry last night. When we came upon the suspiciously unlocked room this morning, we found numerous inappropriate comments painted all over Almasy's bedroom."

Quistis raised her eyebrows, muttering a surprised _really_ under her breath.

The headmaster arched his own, and after a thoughtful pause, spoke up. "Let's call Seifer up, then," he suggested. "And we'll get to the bottom of this." Without a moment to spare, Cid scooted the speaker toward himself, hitting the switch to turn it on.

"Seifer Almasy to the headmaster's office," he said into the microphone. "I repeat, Seifer Almasy to the headmaster's office. Thank you."

After the device was switched off, Squall watched, with smug intrigue, as Ralse began to squirm ever-so-slightly, looking at everything but at the people with him. "Take a seat," he ordered him quietly.

Ralse stubbornly (albeit a bit nervously) complied, seating himself in the extra chair in front of Cid. He ignored the commander otherwise, pretending to be fascinated by the papers and other objects on the headmaster's desk.

After a while, Seifer finally made his way up, already fresh, clean, and ready to conquer the school day.

Squall glanced at Quistis curiously. Strangely, she seemed almost... mesmerized by the former troublemaker's more professional attire.

Seifer nodded toward his supreriors, and willfully paid no heed to Ralse's presence. "Oh, by the way, Instructor," he said, hitching a thumb toward the door. "You might wanna head to class. Think the Trepies are getting rowdy."

The blonde woman hesitated, as if she didn't want to go. Squall knew she was smart, though; a responsible teacher who should tend to her homeroom class. "Well," she finally replied, "at least promise me you'll tell me what's going on. Or I'll have your hide." And then, as an afterthought: "Then I'll send you to detention."

Seifer grinned rather nostalgically. "Yes, of course, Quisty."

She nodded pleasantly at all of them and left.

Back to business. "Sit down, Mr. Almasy," Cid said, gesturing to the second chair in front of his desk.

Seifer plopped down comfortably.

"Okay, so Seifer," Squall started professionally. "Tell me in detail what happened yesterday concerning Ralse here."

The blond raised an eyebrow at Squall's business-like tone (he hasn't heard it before) and answered with, "Well, ever since I moved in, Ralse's been bitchin' at me―"

"Mr. Almasy," Cid interrupted heavily.

"Sorry, I mean he's been giving me... heck about you-know-what. And you know I don't put up crap with anyone. So I yell back, that's all. See, the old me would've beaten the shit outta him―"

"ALMASY," the headmaster cut in again.

"―but well, I didn't use violence this time 'coz I'm a good b―"

"If you please, Cadet, skip to the more important things," Squall said impatiently.

Seifer gave him a _fine then_ look and proceeded. "So he left yesterday to the Training Center... was there all afternoon and evening."

Ralse continued to stay unusually quiet, now and then adjusting the hem of his uniform.

"Chicken-wuss came by for a bit, no big deal," Seifer continued. "After he left, I slept awhile. Raijin's phone call woke me up, and he, Fujin, Kinneas, and I decided to go train. When we got there, Ralse was just coming out, and he picked a frickin' fight with me―"

"I know danger when I see it, Almasy," Ralse butted in, his eyes venomous. "You're trouble. You always will be. People like you can't change."

Seifer was about to pop out of his seat in anger, but Squall pushed him down and held him there. "What else happened, Seifer?" The commander asked.

"I guess my keycard fell out of my pocket while we fought," Seifer continued grimly. "At some point, he pinned me, after all." He shook his head at the memory. "He wouldn't open the damn door after that, so I had to find somewhere else to crash for the night." Almost uncharacteristically, his voice lowered, hesitant with something neither Squall nor Cid could figure out. "I came back this morning and found that..."

He didn't continue. Squall immediately took over. "There was graffiti of the vulgar kind all over the walls of his bedroom. We had to assume it's Triton's doing."

"You have no proof of anything," Ralse protested angrily, rising from his seat. "I-!"

"Mr. Triton," Cid said over him. He came out from behind his desk and went over to where the student was sitting, inspecting him. Suddenly, his hand shot out to grab a pinch of his undershirt, which was showing underneath. It was red, and it didn't look like it was meant to be that way. The undershirts were supposed to be plain white t-shirts or tank tops.

"Headmaster!" Ralse gasped, shocked that the man would dare to lay a finger on him.

Seifer shot Squall a look. Even though the SeeD didn't look back (and instead stood like the perfect soldier he was), the blond couldn't help but be stunned that Cid was even on his side.

"Unbutton your coat," Cid ordered, his tone firmer than his usual gentle one.

Ralse had the audacity to scowl at him. "Sir, this has to violate my rights some-"

"Then empty your pockets, please. Completely."

"Why?" Ralse glared at all three of them. "I have nothing I need to prove."

"Then show us that you don't," Squall said sternly.

After a long moment of staring the authoritative figures down, Ralse did what was asked, snorting disdainfully as he did so. First, he emptied the uniform coat pocket onto the desk, which contained his I.D. and library card. Second were his front pants pockets, in which he turned inside out (nothing there but lint), and lastly his back pockets. Out came his wallet, his keycard―

_A-ha._

... And then what seemed like a duplicate of that same keycard, only with Seifer's name on it. Squall saw it clearly; as did the headmaster.

Without another word, the blond gunbladist grabbed the card in relief and stuck it into one of his coat pockets.

Cid sighed. He nodded at Squall and turned to Ralse. "Lack of cooperation toward another cadet―a possible future teammate, initiating a fight with him, and defaming him by vandalizing Garden property... you are dismissed from this Garden, Triton."

"WHAT! WHY-!"

"As well as stripped of any merits you have received in your training."

"Headmas-!"

"You have family to return to, anyway. Have a nice day, Mr. Triton."

Unable to argue, a redfaced Ralse angrily spun on his heel and left, swearing up a storm.

_(That was pretty harsh...)_ Squall thought, blinking. _(We must've tightened up on the regulating the rules.)_

"As for you, Cadet Almasy, one month of detention for fighting and vulgar language," Cid spoke up, sitting back down in his desk.

_(That also was kind of harsh...)_

"All right," Seifer replied, blatantly relieved. He got up from the chair. Cid returned to whatever business he had at his desk.

Squall started following Seifer out, but not before taking a discreet peek over his shoulder at the headmaster again. Could it be? He, the commander, was free from doing the ton of paperwork involved with a dismissed student?

_(Sneak out quietly... Headmaster won't notice...)_

Squall was almost to the elevator... _(Yes, yes, yes, yes... freedom's almost there...)_

"Oh! Squall! I almost forgot to give you Triton's paperwork!"

The teen froze in dismay. _(Damn it.)_

* * *

Homeroom was almost over when Seifer stepped out of the elevator. In fact, a few steps further on, the bell intoned, releasing all of the students from homeroom. It was followed by a chorus of hisses as the doors slid open. People drifted out of the rooms, pushing past him with no heed. Since Seifer also had Quistis for first period, he decided to just sit in the room until class started. He had nothing better to do, anyway.

"Seifer," Quistis greeted him as he entered the classroom. "How did things go?"

"The bastard got kicked outta Garden," Seifer said triumphantly. "Thank Hyne." He plopped down in his seat in the front. Quistis decided to sit next to him. She folded her hands on the study panel and turned slightly so that she was facing him with an awaiting look.

He glanced at her quizzically. "What?"

"Well, don't leave me hanging!" Quistis replied. "Tell me what the heck is going on!"

Seifer leaned back against the back of the chair and sighed, stretching his arms above his head. "To cut a long story short, Ralse still hates me for going with the Sorceress and so decided to pick a fight with me, jack my keycard, lock me out of our dorm for the night, and tag my walls with offensive shit."

"Whoa..."

"Yeah. The shithead conveniently left the door unlocked the next morning just so I can see his fuckin' artwork." He snorted and let his arms fall to his sides.

"And the Headmaster dismissed him from the school entirely?"

"Mm-hm."

She put her hand on his arm, out of relief for his sake. "At least it's over with."

"Yeah." He smiled at her. "So whats goin' on with you, 'Structor?"

"Paperwork... lesson plans... eat... sleep... that's about it," Quistis laughed. She noticed where her arm still was and reeled it back immediately, her cheeks slightly pink without her noticing.

"Huh. Sounds like fun. Especially the food..." he licked his lips thoughtfully, he didn't seem to notice Quistis' tiny moment of bashfulness. "Actually, due to all the drama this morning, I haven't had anything to eat..."

"Hey, it just so happens that I have some leftover hash browns on my desk," the instructor said slyly. "Normally, I wouldnt let you eat in the classroom, but since its you, I'll let you eat some until class starts."

"Really? Quisty, you are my hero!" Seifer shot out of his seat and made a mad dash for her desk. He found the little plastic container there and opened it. "Hell yeah, food!" He found her fork, wiped off the prongs with the underside of his coat, and without reservation, dug in as he took a seat in her chair.

Quistis stood by him, grinning softly at her pupil as he ate merrily.

Finally noticing her, he looked up. "What is it now?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. I'm just so happy with how you are now. I'm glad you've changed for the better. I really am. You've become... likeable." She ruffled his cropped blond hair affectionately.

He blinked in surprise. He'd never seen Quistis so happy with him before, nor had he received compliments, either. "...Thanks, Quis."

Students were starting to come in, including Fujin and Raijin, who were returning for first period. They joined Quistis and Seifer at Quistis' desk.

"We've heard about the Ralse thing, ya know," Raijin spoke up.

"Already? Wonderful," Seifer responded sarcastically with his mouth full. "I really hate how rumors here get spread all over the school in two seconds flat."

"Seifer, you don't deserve that," Fujin told him, uncharacteristically soft. "How do you feel now?"

"I'm all right, actually," the gunblade specialist answered with ease. "Justice was served, thanks to Headmaster and Leonhart... oh, and thanks to Sefie... and Quisty here. Oh, and these hash browns..." As if on cue, he took another monstrous bite.

Raijin laughed. "Glad you're okay, buddy." He gave his friend a hearty slap on the back.

Seifer froze, to keep himself from choking. He scowled at the big, dark man by him but inwardly smiled. He was glad this his posse members were not the cardboard cut-out, bland, one-dimensional characters they seemed to be to everyone else. They had depth, and they cared about him as a person.

The bell rang and Fujin and Raijin trudged to their seats for class. Even though there was only a little bit of the hash browns left, Quistis still took the container and fork from the desk and above Seifer's head.

"Instructor..." Seifer actually whined.

"The bell rang," she answered succinctly. "To your seat, Mr. Almasy."

Student-teacher boundaries set.

Grumbling, he set the fork down and strode to his study panel. Quistis smiled and put the cover back on the container. "All right, lets get started," she told the class, ignoring their expressions of puzzlement toward the two blonds.

* * *

Zell and Selphie were not at the Garden at the moment, dutifully helping instructors (namely Quistis) teach the cadets and/or juniorclassmen. Instead, the two were off on a mission, which was to act as security to a major politician.

In this case, it was Josef Guthrie, a candidate running for presidency of Galbadia. This man was in the middle of giving a general speech about his policies, his economic protests, and other things. However, most of the words that came out of his mouth were insults against his rival in the election, General Caraway, Rinoa's father.

A lot of people seemed to disagree with Guthrie's stances, so he was being hunted down by assassins. So, then came in Balamb's SeeD, who were, for some odd reason, hired rather than maybe the SeeD or military in Galbadia itself.

The building they were in was old-fashioned, had a very high ceiling, but was easy on the eyes. The room itself had a stage painted in a comforting blue with a matching podium. The curtain behind them took on a deeper shade. The walls where the lightest of blue, for in any regular light, one would see it as some sort of off-white. In the audience, there were blue-hued seats with cushions that folded up like in cinemas. There were three balconies: one in the middle, directly in front of where Guthrie was standing, and two on each side near the side doors. No one was up there, and from what Selphie heard, not many people used them, in which she thought was a major bummer. Even more of a bummer was that she wasn't one of the SeeDs assigned to patrol the upper levels.

"Booooring..." Selphie whispered to Zell next to her.

Instead, she and he were flanked on either side of the politician, slightly behind him so that the man had more dominance on the stage. Selphie didn't know why she would be called to a mission such as this one, for she was not very big in size. Zell, she would understand because he had a good physique.

They have been guarding Josef from when he left his house at 09:30 (two and a half hours after classes at Garden went into session) up until now, and glancing at her pocketwatch, the little Trabian saw that the time was approximately 1300 hours, meaning they have been standing in their places for more than an hour.

"Does he ever shut up about Rinoa's dad?" Zell questioned, not really expecting an answer.

"―If General Caraway was such a good, social man right for this job, then maybe his relationship with his daughter―" Josef was saying.

Selphie rolled her eyes. "He's bringing Rinny into this, that butt-faced monkey brain..."

"Yeah, that butt-faced monkey brai―uh, wait..." Zell bit his lip. No way would a silly phrase interfere with his machoness.

The SeeDs turned their focus back to the matter at hand.

"So how was your date last night?" Selphie queried.

Zell cringed and shook his head, his face taking a dark look. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Why? That bad? Tell me-!"

"We're on a mission, Selph," Zell cut her off sternly. All of a sudden, he smiled again a second later. "Come on, afterward, well head to Balamb to visit Ma." He turned to face completely front, staying stiff and silent.

Selphie blinked at his weird behavior. Normally, Zell wouldn't be able to stay still for even two seconds.

He was covering something up. She needed to find out what it was.

At the same time, Zell's secrecy made her think about her own relationship problems... and as a result, became uncharacteristically depressed.

_(No, none of that. It's mission time.)_ Selphie cleared her throat softly and turned her attention back to the task at hand. _(Stay serious, Selphie. For once, stay serious.)_

It was good timing, too, for she suddenly had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, something strong that made her heart beat faster with anxiety. She glanced at Zell, but didn't see a change in his features. He didn't seem to sense anything wrong.

Turning back to face the audience, Selphie watched the next events like it was going in slow motion.

Slowly, Guthrie nodded and thanked everyone for listening. Polite, formal clapping erupted and the audience stood to leave as if the world was inside a blob of honey.

Josef Guthrie turned in a snail-like pace to face the SeeDs.

And from out of nowhere, three gunshots rang out.

* * *

_(This really sucks,)_ Squall thought as he continued doing paperwork for Ralse. _(If the idiot hadn't screwed up, I wouldn't be stuck in my office doing this without any help. Why can't Headmaster do some of this?)_

He put the finished sheet facedown in a pile of about twelve other finished papers.

_(I should get a secretary...) _

He looked up at the time on his office wall. 13:45. Class would be let out in fifteen minutes. He absently wondered how Rinoa was doing, but he didn't really feel like finding out.

He tsked to himself in slight, but distant, shame. It strange how lazy he felt toward his longtime girlfriend.

Suddenly, the phone on his desk rang. He looked at it for a few seconds before before picking it up.

"Balamb Garden, Commander Leonhart speaking," he answered in a monotone.

"Uh, Squall?"

"Selphie?"

"Um, just to let you know... shots were fired but they all missed Guthrie," she said in that unusually cheery tone of hers. "We all have no clue as to where the sniper is. It really came suddenly and the soldiers are on the trail right now and me and Zelly are answering questions to authorities and―"

_(But did they miss Selphie or Zell?)_ A small sense of panic rose within him. "Are you two okay?"

"Yup yup!" she replied happily.

The commander sighed inwardly in relief.

"Well, Zelly and I are almost done and after we get our files from the authorities well come back home. Sefie signin' out―"

"Wait, Selphie."

"Huh?"

Squall couldn't help but echo that in his head.

_(What did I do that for?)_

It wouldn't be long until he saw his two friends again. They were safe, and Selphie sounded like sunshine, which was a strong indication that despite the shooting, the mission went off without a hitch.

"Hey, what is it, Squally-ally?"

He rolled his eyes. "...Don't call me that."

"Tee-hee. I'm sorry. What is it, O Almighty Commander I Grovel So?"

"Tilmitt..." he warned.

"Okay, I'm sorry! What?" He could hear her giggling on the other end.

He opened his mouth and then shut it again. Why was he suddenly being a moron? There was nothing to say to her. It really mystified him, for he never acted like this, maybe except around Rinoa...

_(Wait...)_

"Squall, I think I better go now, Zelly's got the files," Selphie spoke up.

He abuptly felt the warmth of her lithe form falling against him, the bright green eyes staring up at him gratefully. He suddenly imagined her glossy lips speaking into the phone at that moment.

_(I must have not had enough sleep.)_

"Okay," he said into the phone. He silently berated himself for sounding so reluctant.

All right, so she was pretty attractive dressed up like that. And she was a cute person otherwise. That wasn't a big deal. Nothing weird about that. Anyone would have thought the same thing.

"Soooo, what did you have to say?" Selphie asked, her curious voice coming out as a bit of a whine.

"It's not important."

_(Rinoa's my only...)_ He didn't even finish the thought. A strange ounce of _something_ overcame him when his girlfriend came to mind, like an emotion had just up and left his system. A _vital_ emotion, at that.

Another strange thing: he didn't miss it.

She sighed. "Fine, but when I get back, I'm gonna pester you 'til you tell me! Booyaka!" She hung up.

Squall felt his stomach sink, realizing that he almost missed her voice.

He didn't see any of this coming.

* * *

Rinoa glanced at a clock hanging on the wall of the back of the library. 14:45. She and Seifer were studying for the upcoming quiz in Instructor Cicero's class. Maybe she should go see Squall, just to check up on him, yet for some reason, she just didn't feel like doing that.

"So what're you gonna do after this, Rin?" Seifer inquired, distracted (although he knew that Cicero's class was a class he should study for). "You gonna see Puberty Boy?"

Great, now he brought him up. Rinoa didn't know how to respond. Usually she would nod with a smile on her face, like countless times before, but she wanted to be honest and say no.

"Nah, I think he'll be busy..." she finally answered, but in actuality, she had no idea if he was or not. She had heard about Ralse, and figured Squall had to do something to prepare for his leaving.

"That's never stopped you before..." Seifer pointed out.

She shrugged.

He raised an eyebrow. "Okay..."

They continued their studying. Well, at least for a few minutes. Rinoa could no longer concentrate.

Luckily for her, Seifer felt the same way. "I think I had enough of this," he said into the silence, shutting his textbook. "Can't take anymore of this crap." Standing up from his chair, he turned to his classmate and friend. "You comin'?"

"Sure!" she exclaimed, sounding perhaps too excited, considering how diligent of a student she usually was.

She followed Seifer out of the library and to the main hall. As they walked toward the dorms, they spotted Zell and Selphie coming in from the garage. He was holding a fat manila folder; she was empty-handed. They had just returned from a mission.

"Sefie!" Seifer shouted. "Chicken-wuss!"

Zell almost threw down the file in his hand. "Seifer...!" he growled in a warning tone.

"How was it?" Rinoa asked them.

Selphie shrugged, her face, as always, beaming. "It was okay. Really boring until the sniper went _bam bam bam_ but failed hard! Not one shot!"

Seifer rolled his eyes. "Better than studying."

Selphie linked arms with the taller blond. "Welp! We're about to head to the O Almighty Commander's office! You and Rinny wanna come with?"

He looked down at their intertwined arms in surprise. His ears turned a little red, but only Rinoa seemed to notice. "Uh. I guess."

The raven-haired beauty couldn't help but laugh a little. "You two look so odd together!" she teased, her words mostly directed at Seifer.

"Hey! Shut up!" Seifer sputtered, hastily recoiling from the unassuming Trabian.

Meanwhile, Zell grew impatient. "Yo! Let's go, Selph!" he shouted, one-handedly shadowboxing his way to the elevator.

"I'm coming, too!" Rinoa called, and caught up to the martial artist. Without really thinking, she laid a gentle hand on his arm. It was more of a caress, really, more intimate than it should have been.

He tensed a little, glancing down at her quizzically.

She forced down a blush. It wasn't like she knew why she did that, either. Instead of saying anything, she skipped ahead without looking at him.

* * *

Squall was irritated at the fact that Zell just walked into his office like no one's business. Didn't people knock anymore?

Selphie and Seifer, strangely enough, entered as well, followed by Rinoa. Out of courtesy for his girlfriend, he stood up and walked around his desk to stand in front of her.

"Squall," she greeted warmly, jumping enthusiastically into embrace. A rare smile graced his face as he held her close in what seemed like an eternity.

_(This is where I belong,)_ Squall assured himself. _(I didn't go to the ends of the world for her just for nothing.)_

Why did it feel like he was making an excuse?

Near him, Seifer rolled his eyes at the display of affection. "I honestly got a fucking cavity. Damn happy couples."

Selphie playfully latched onto Seifer. "Oh, darling Seifer!" she declared dramatically. "I love you so!"

Seifer immediately caught onto the roleplay. "And I you, my dear," he replied in an overly debonair voice.

Squall and Rinoa parted from each other. "I get it, Seifer," the commander sighed exasperatedly.

The blond didn't hear him, for he slipped an arm around Selphie and dipped her at a forty-five degree angle, much to the girl's pleasant surprise.

Squall, on the other hand, was unpleasantly surprised to find that the scene irked him, especially when the ex-knight decided to take it one step further and lean down, angling his face as if to kiss her. And she didn't pull away.

Before the disturbing possibility became a reality, Selphie, much to this relief, suddenly burst into laughter, blushing a bit as she put a hand against Seifer's face. "Too much! Too much!" she squealed, giggling.

Seifer let her go, frowning. "You ruined it!"

"You were enjoying it too much, Sei-Sei!"

"Squall and I aren't that mushy!" Rinoa complained to the two actors.

"In denial, I say," the blond cadet teased smoothly. He turned to Squall. "What do you think, Commando?"

_(Not. Another. Damn. Nickname.)_

"The word is commander," Squall replied humorlessly.

For once, the voice of getting-back-to-business was Zell's. "Squall!" he broke in. "The mission files!" He gestured to the papers. "C'mon, my stomach's rumbling!"

After the files were finally received, Zell exited, in search of food. Rinoa gave her boyfriend a quick kiss on the lips and left with Seifer.

That left Squall and Selphie alone. And with recent musings, he was pretty sure he was the only one feeling awkward about it. So, choosing to ignore her, the brunet trudged back behind his desk and slumped into his chair. He still had a lot of work ahead of him.

"Oh? I have time! I'll help!" Selphie suddenly volunteered, the bright tone nearly making Squall jump.

He must have thought out loud on accident.

Before he could protest, the girl plopped down into a chair in front of his desk, the curl in her hair bouncing with her. She winked. "It's for Triton, right? It won't be a problem."

"Uh..." he began. _(It would be nice, but...)_

She tilted her head to one side. "What's up, Squally? You sound like your brain is fried. I guess you really need that help." She laughed a little. Her eyes sparkled with amusement.

He tore his own eyes away before he could get too fixated on them. "You're probably tired from the mission," he said coolly, feigning nonchalance as he turned to the mission folder. "I can handle this."

"I'm not pooped at all!" To prove her point, Selphie picked up a pen from Squall's penholder and grabbed the next piece of paper off of his _slowly_ shortening pile. "Let's do it!"

He guessed he was stuck there with her.

"Fine," he said to her, sighing heavily.

But to be honest, perhaps unadmittedly, he didn't mind.

Squall hid a small smile as the two of them got to work.

* * *

"What the hell are you guys doing in my room!" cried Seifer after entering his room, finding Irvine, Raijin, and Fujin sitting on his table, chatting away.

"Hey, Almasy," Irvine said calmly.

"Don't fucking 'hey Almasy' me―"

"BEDROOM. LOOK," Fujin interrupted him, seeming just as casual as the cowboy.

Seifer turned to Rinoa, who had followed him in. "You know anything about this?" he asked her. When the sorceress shrugged, he tsked and went ahead and barged into his bedroom.

"What the hell...?" Seifer suddenly noticed that his room looked different from its condition this morning. As in, all the graffiti was gone, painted over until it looked as good as new.

"So, like," spoke up Irvine, "we figured you didn't want strangers doin' it, so..." He half-smiled. "You like?"

"That was really sweet of you guys," Rinoa gushed from behind Seifer's shoulder. She, too was peeking in, marveled by the clean paint job.

Seifer blinked, stunned. "Thanks..." That _was_ sweet of them.

"SPEECHLESS," Fujin observed.

He managed a smirk. "Maybe."

"Anyway!" Irvine announced, stretching his arms above his head. "Think I'm gonna train and then hit up the cafeteria. Y'all are free to tag along. It'll be an adventure." He nudged Fujin suggestively.

She punched him in the arm. "IDIOT."

He winced.

"Sweet!" Seifer cheered. "Count me―"

"Oh, no you don't," Rinoa suddenly cut in, grabbing him by the sleeve. "You aren't going anywhere." She looked pointedly at Fujin. "You, too, Fuj. We have a big project coming up. _And_ a quiz!"

"MY GRADES. FINE," Fujin scoffed.

"So are mine, but you don't see me slacking off!" Rinoa turned to Irvine and smiled apologetically. She appeared deceptively angelic. "Sorry, Irvine. Maybe some other time."

Raijin, who did not share that particular class with the three, and had been silent the entire time, turned to the cowboy. "I can go, ya know."

Irvine shrugged casually. "Sorry, pal. I think I'm 'bout t'change my mind. Gonna take a nap or somethin' instead."

Raijin furrowed a brow. He seemed let down. "Ah. Forget I said anything, then, ya know."

Unceremoniously, the auburn-haired student left.

Rinoa frowned at the darker-skinned cadet. "You can study with us, if you want."

He blinked, surprised by the sorceress' gesture. Nonetheless, studying didn't seem like something he wanted to do. "Oh, uh that's all right, ya know." The oddly lonely expression in his eyes didn't let up, however. "Studying doesn't seem fun―"

"Tch, I'll say!" Seifer agreed with a groan. "Better you get out of Rinoa Heartilly's Boot Camp-Study Hall while you can!"

"Excuse me?" Rinoa snapped at him with a glare, swatting the gunbladist's arm. "I work _hard_ for my scores!"

"Too damn hard, you mean! This is remedial shit!"

"Says the guy who repeated, like, twice!"

"That's low, Sorceress!"

"POINTLESS ARGUMENT. STOP."

Unbeknownst to them, while the three were busy with their heated conversation, Raijin snuck out of the room, unnoticed.

Perhaps it was becoming the story of his life.

* * *

Squall didn't understand why Seifer and Selphie's mock public display of affection bothered him. They were playing around, of course, but for some reason, the idea of sweet, innocent, naive Selphie cavorting with tough, arrogant Seifer didn't sit well with him.

There was something he must know so he could feel a little more at ease... which he didn't know the reason for, either.

But should he just bring it up from out of nowhere, or just keep it to himself and just observe from a distance? Usually, he would settle for the latter, but this was Selphie; if anything, she would be the happiest thing ever if she got Squall Leonhart to speak more than a syllable.

"Selphie," he began, looking up from his paper to glance at her.

"Hm?" Her inquisitive emerald-colored eyes fell onto his.

His heart thumped unexpectedly.

"Oh!" she suddenly quipped. "You were gonna say something over the phone, right?" Setting her paperwork on the desk, she leaned over eagerly, propping her elbows up on it, her chin perched on her intertwined fingers. "Spill, Mister! Is it something juicy?"

_(Juicy? Do people still use that word?)_ He frowned. "No, it's... nothing like that."

How come his speech felt like it was going at a snail's pace compared to her energetic spiels?

"Then...?" She blinked a thought coming to her. "You know, if it's a secret about someone else, it's probably a bad idea to keep it with me. Just giving you a heads up."

"It concerns you," he said curtly. Really, this girl spoke too much.

"I see..." she drawled carefully. "This isn't some candid work evaluation thingy, is it? Squally-ally, you know I'm a great SeeD! I'm an honest worker with awesome leadership sk―"

"I just wanted to know if you liked anybody," he cut in sharply before she went off on a meaningless ramble.

It was the wrong thing to say.

Her eyes widened, but they didn't light up with anything happy. "That's... a weird question for you to ask," she replied delicately, her tone somewhat unsteady. Her gaze on him abruptly lowered to the ground, her bangs shadowing the expression in her eyes. "You know the answer to that. Remember?"

Something had happened. Did it finally hit her that Irvine was exactly how the commander had described him?

"No," he finally backtracked, trying his best―even as Squall―to keep the mood light for her sake. "I mean, besides Irvine."

"Uh..."

"... Seifer?" he blurted out.

She managed a small giggle. "I'm sorry to say that there's nothing going on between me and Seifer." Her laughter died down on a somber note as she went back to filling out the paper on her side of his desk.

Squall felt more awkward than ever, embarrassed that he even brought Seifer up. But before he could continue his task, Selphie spoke up again.

"Does it bother you?" she asked him in a small, uncharacteristically serious voice.

"Does _what_ bother me?"

"Any of it," she elaborated with a sigh. "My love life. You're obviously not fond of Seifer being friendly with me—"

"Wait a minute—"

"And you don't like the idea of me chasing after Irvy," she finished, ignoring him. Her eyes remained on her paper. Squall couldn't tell if she was teary-eyed or not, but her voice did break a bit.

Squall didn't answer her right away. To be honest, he wasn't sure how to. It was a loaded question. To him, there were various ways of interpreting it. Moreover, he didn't want to admit that he _was_ bothered by her and Irvine, but he was starting to think that it was not just because of his womanizing ways.

"You already know how I feel about Irvine for you," Squall told her quietly. "I told you in Winhill." He added his completed paper to the stack of finished papers. "I'm only looking out for you, Selph."

She set down her pen, suddenly in a different world. "That night when we got back, I saw a girl there," she confessed. "In his room. Even when she left the two of us alone, I couldn't confess to him. I just felt so... heartbroken."

Selphie looked up at him. She seemed strangely mature, and he couldn't force his eyes away from such a beautiful face and such large, glassy green eyes. She smiled grimly. "I guess this is where you tell me, 'I told you so.'"

He felt his chest grow heavy, and his gaze softened a tiny bit. "I won't if it hurts you."

Suddenly, a sob escaped her. Embarrassed, she turned her head to hide her escaping tears.

He immediately stood up from his desk. "Selphie?" he asked cautiously, reaching a hand to her.

"That's the nicest thing I've ever heard you say to me!" she sobbed.

He came out from behind his desk and kneeled down in front of her, but he refrained from doing anything else. He didn't know how to comfort her, as this was the first time he had actually seen the Trabian cry. It was a new experience in itself.

She dared herself to peer at him. He briefly caught a glimpse of a tearstained, swollen face. At his rather puzzled expression, she almost laughed, even through her crying. "Now this is the part where you console me," she informed him jokingly.

He stared at her for what felt like a long time. But luckily for him, and before he had a chance to do anything, Selphie took the initiative and fell into his arms.

For a second, he felt stiff. The two of them hardly ever touched, except for the obvious times like when she needed a help off the ground—

_(... or when she toppled into me on our last mission.)_

She had felt so dainty; light and tiny. And yet, she had the spirit of a warrior, mental strength he could only fathom. At the same time, she had vulnerability, a hidden emotional side that likened to Squall's own; perhaps they were not so different, after all.

Put simply, Selphie Tilmitt was an admirable person, evident from their travels and from the testimonies of others at Trabia, and he was only now realizing it. She was the one he had confessed his biggest secret to, and he didn't regret it one bit; it only made their relationship stronger.

With that, he let his arms warmly surround her. The thick leather of his clothing covered her cold, bare limbs, and a gloved hand stroked through her soft brown hair.

The sensation of the waifish girl in his arms was different from Rinoa. While the latter had a softer, more filled-out figure in comparison, Selphie's spunk hid her fragile structure, and only through the intimate gesture did he realize how protective he felt of her.

Her head ducked down gingerly, lying against the crook of his neck. Her eyes were wet, but he knew that he was feeling the last of her tears.

"Thank you," she whispered gratefully, the inflection bright despite the situation. "I really needed that, Squall."

He managed a smirk. "You deserve friends who do these things."

For a moment, they relaxed against each other, comfortable in the embrace.

They just reached a milestone in their friendship, didn't they?

_(I really think... that I can open up to her.)_

It was Selphie who spoke again, squirming around gently. "I have to go," she told him ruefully. "I have Festival stuff to do."

Squall discovered how unwilling he was as he let her go, and watched with dark, unreadable eyes when the door slid open in front of her.

With one last turn, Selphie blew him a friendly kiss, her lovely green eyes dry. "See ya, Squally. Don't work too hard!" She practically flew out the door with renewed energy.

The commander, now alone, looked pensively down at his arms.

They still tingled from her touch.

* * *

"Rinoa, will you please get Angelo out of this room?" Seifer asked firmly from the couch. He glared down at Rinoa's happy pet as she wagged her tail and stared up at him expectantly.

As soon as Irvine, Raijin, and Fujin left the room, Ralse entered back in to pack. Seifer didn't want to be around him so the project session was moved to Fujin and Rinoa's dorm.

The sorceress, who was doing her project at the same time from the floor, giggled. "Nope..."

"I hate how dogs love me and follow me and stare at me..." He began shooing Angelo away unsuccessfully.

"Seifer, come on... would it hurt to play with her?" Rinoa crawled over to her dog. She grabbed her pet's head gently and turned her to face Seifer. "Look at this face, Seifer," She cooed in a baby voice. "How could you resist this cute widdle puppy?"

"She's nearly two years old," he grunted, rolling his eyes at his ex-girlfriend.

"Parts of you still haven't changed," Rinoa laughed. She stood up and led the dog out of the bedroom, the door sliding locked afterward.

The silence of hard work (at least, on Rinoa's end) was getting on Seifer's nerves; she could see it in the way he restlessly moved: tapping a pencil, constantly changing positions, idly flipping through pages he wasn't even reading...

Finally, he shut one of the library books he was taking notes from. "What's with you and Dincht?" he questioned bluntly.

Rinoa stared at him in astonishment.

Where'd that come from?

He could see it?

"Uh... what?"

"You heard me."

"... Whatever..."

"Don't pull a Squall on me," he reprimanded. "I see you blushing and giving ZELL DINCHT, out of all people, googly eyes that you usually give Commando. You have a _boyfriend_, you know."

"Well... how about you and _Selphie_, huh?" she replied in defense, joining him on the couch. "What was _that_?"

"... You have a point," Seifer responded after some thought. He sighed and propped his feet up on the table.

Rinoa couldn't help but wonder, "So... do you like her? Selphie? Is that why you almost kissed her?"

"I don't know," Seifer said honestly. "I was trying to make our parody of you and Leonhart good, but... You think that means anything?"

She took a second to recall a few things. "Considering that she was all you talked about during lunch... and that I even heard you whisper her name while you were sleeping in third period—"

"Aw, fuck, I did?" he spoke up, groaning. He covered his face with his hand in embarrassment.

"Then... I guess you sorta kinda like her, Seifer."

He smiled to himself, as if understanding something. Rinoa could see that he was thinking of her. Fondly, at that. Seifer usually hid his emotions well with a scowl or a smirk, but he didn't seem to recognize that he was showing any of _this_ kind.

"... I guess I do..." he drawled contemplatively.

He looked like he felt better already.

"Hey, maybe she was trying to make it look good, too," Rinoa hypothesized, but then shrugged. "But you never know. Ever think of telling her in the future about how you possibly feel?"

"Stetson," he replied simply. "Sefie's in love with that guy still."

"I don't think he likes her that way, though."

"Probably won't stop her." Seifer shrugged and fiddled with his jacket uncomfortably. "But, I can wait..."

She smiled gently. How sweet.

"I... I guess... wow, I've never really liked anyone like that since.. us." He looked uneasy, as if he wasn't sure of what to do with his feelings.

Rinoa suddenly thought of something. An obstacle, possibly. "Wait; how do you feel about Quisty?" she asked warily.

"What do you mean?"

She blinked dumbly. _(Well... forget that, then.)_ "Never mind."

Rinoa smiled and changed the subject. "Wow, we haven't talked this much to each other for a while... you know."

He didn't seem uneasy at all with her. "Like old times, yeah."

They fell into a comfortable silence.

... Until the blond decided to bring up a touchy subject that seemed to bother _him_ for some reason.

"Rin... how _do_ you feel about Leonhart now?" Seifer questioned from out of nowhere.

She gave a small start. "Uh... _huh_?"

_(Not stuff about me again...)_

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. I mentioned it earlier before you snapped back at me with shit about Selphie."

She held a hand up. "Wait—"

"Oh, no," he warned. "If you get to grill me about Sefie, I get details about you and Commando."

Rinoa rolled her eyes. "_Not_ the same thing."

"Come on."

She frowned and averted her gaze. "Seif, I don't know."

He lifted a brow at her. Clearly, he hadn't expected such an unsure answer.

"I've always done things by my heart's will and desire," she explained in a smaller, more glum voice. "I use it more than what my head says." She fiddled with the ring around her neck, an accessory that had become so much part of her that she forgot it was there sometimes.

Or did she forget it was there because she stopped caring?

"Now," she continued, "my heart's telling me something else."

"Dincht."

"... Maybe."

Seifer almost seemed disappointed in her, like he had been rooting for her and Squall like everyone else did. "So," he said carefully, "even after victories over evil sorceresses, fucked-up rivals, and dealing with annoying rebels like you who can make the guy smile like a normal person, you just don't have enough heart for him?"

"I don't know," she said again with a sigh, leaving Seifer to draw his own conclusions.

In reality, she neglected to mention a more complicated notion: being afraid of letting go even though she might not want to belong to Squall any longer.

* * *

All that hyping herself up while racing to the event site didn't pay off in the end, for Selphie sat alone on the lit-up Quad stage, her feet dangling despondently from the edge... obviously not hard at work like she had told Squall.

It was getting late. She wasted all this time staring blankly at the clipboard in her hand, where she was supposed to be brainstorming. From there, she should have subsequently gotten tired from her strenuous activities, enough to be ready to hit the hay.

But no, her room felt dark and intensely lonely instead of tranquil. The Quad was a much more peaceful environment, she discovered.

_(Sorry, Squally! I lied!)_

"There ya are," said a gentle, lazy voice, accompanied by the click of boots against the tile floor. "Been lookin' for you, Sefie. It's almost curfew, you know."

She looked up, a wane smile decorating her features. "Hey, Irvy. Wanna help?"

Irvine tipped his hat. "Thanks, but no thanks. Only came to see what you were up to." He looked around the empty area. "Looks like you have more volunteers this year..." he added dryly, hoisting himself up on the stage next to her.

She immediately tensed, but said nothing. It was weird feeling awkward around her best friend, but the painful pace of her heart was very hard to control.

"Sorry that we didn't get to talk last night," he said quietly, changing subjects. "It feels like our schedules haven't been matchin' up too well nowadays, huh?"

"Hm," she answered distantly, staring down at her empty brainstorm sheet. She was getting increasingly uncomfortable. All she could think about was busting into his dorm and finding that _bimbo_ with him, as well as his nonchalance toward her as a potential girlfriend.

For the first time in a long one, Selphie was out of words for Irvine. She couldn't find the heart to be bubbly with the guy. She just wanted to be alone with her stage and her clipboard.

Her mind randomly went to Squall, the way he slid his arms around her earlier that day; practically the only thing that gave her a peace of mind. She felt a bit better when his steel-colored eyes entered her thoughts.

A part of her wished he was here to buffer the discomfort.

Irvine wasn't oblivious to her mood. "Hey," he piped up softly. "Sefie..."

"Yeah?"

He laid a hand on her wrist with concern. "You seem really, I dunno... unfamiliar."

She feigned a grin. "What are you talking about?"

Irvine raised a brow. "Are you serious? You can't lie to me, Sef."

She shook her head. "It's nothing, Irvy. It doesn't matter―"

He tsked, getting irritated. "'Course it does! You're my best friend!"

She froze, her eyes temporarily wide at his words. Azure eyes fighting against emerald―and winning, she lowered her sunny defenses, but only slightly.

"I..." she murmured, tearing her eyes away to stare across the sprawling area. "I guess that's just it, then."

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

There was a long pause before she spoke up again. She was fighting with herself. She didn't want the confession to come out like this, when she was unprepared and in an awful mood... and most certainly, not when Irvine was being simultaneously impatient and worried. "We're best friends," she went on, wording her sentences with caution, "so... nothing else can come of it, huh?"

"Sefie..." he breathed unsurely, taking his hat off to scratch his head. He was still clueless. "I don't get it. Is this about me?"

She nodded reluctantly, refusing to look him in the eye, not wanting to acknowledge the expression of rejection she knew she would get from him... scared to face the reality of where they would always stand.

"Best friends..." he mumbled in thought, trying to piece things together since she refused to drop anything more concrete.

When he found the answer, his voice fell into a low, sorrowful tone when he spoke up again. "You want more than that," he concluded sullenly.

Selphie was slow to answer, but finally managed an answer, nodding shamefully. She felt her face redden and her vision blur, tears threatening to spill over.

She hated this mood. Hated, hated, _hated_ it. For her, crying was the worst; she couldn't hide it, she couldn't silence it, nor plaster a smile to ward off the worried.

She already knew his answer, and he already knew that she knew; otherwise, she wouldn't be in tears in the first place. They knew each other like the back of their hands.

She had simply deluded herself into thinking there could be something between them, and paid the price when she fell too deep.

"You've always been the most important person to me, Sefie," Irvine finally said, tender but incredibly full of regret. "But I can't give you what you want."

He slipped a warm arm around her, gently pulling her against his shoulder. It felt cold to her hurting heart. She refused to look at him still, but allowed her eyes to fall on his lap, her tears beginning to dot his pants.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. He was sincere, but she didn't feel better... only worse.

"I know," she answered in a shaking voice. She sighed, wanting no more than to have him out of sight. "Irvy, can you leave me alone for now?"

Irvine swallowed, hurt by the request. It wasn't out of love he felt this, though; that, she knew. "Yeah, sure," he answered in a light tone, acting as though it wasn't a big deal. He slipped off the stage. Although he turned to stare at her, she didn't dare lift her head to do the same.

"Sef..." he said, but let his voice trail off. He didn't know what else to tell her, nor how else to comfort her. They were best friends, but the very person who always made her smile and laugh was the one who made her this way.

"I'll be fine," she told him hollowly. "I just need time to myself."

Resigned, Irvine took off his hat and placed it beside her on the stage, right where he had been sitting. "Don't stay up too late," he told her.

She pursed her lips together to nod mutely.

Hesitantly, the cowboy made his leave, walking slowly out of the Quad.

The Trabian laid back against the stage, numbly staring up at the stagelights until she saw colored dots when she looked away.

The Quad no longer relaxed her.

* * *

**A/N:** _I hope the reboot of this chapter sounds a little more mature than the first time around. Hahaha. D:_

_And hopefully, I caught most of the grammatical errors and typos. Bleh._


	5. IV: On The Stage, On My Own

**A/N:** _Yeah, I kinda messed up at the bottom of last chapter with my "Go here!" thing (but don't worry, I fixed it)... there was supposed to be a URL at the very bottom... but it disappeared... so... just look on my profile page. It should be there._

**Disclaimer:** FFVIII, once again, does not belong to me, and neither do the lyrics to Backstreet Boys' "How Did I Fall in Love with You?" ... I just write fanfics.

* * *

**_Maybe It Could Work  
by: Elcyion Pitye_**

* * *

**IV. On The Stage, On My Own**

_What can I do to make things right?  
Falling so hard, so fast this time.  
What did I say, what did you do?  
How did I fall in love with you?_

Two months passed, and the orphanage gang (plus three) have settled down from their former dramas that have died away, except for the occassional musings of Rinoa and Squall, who still have yet to sort out their feelings for each other and for Zell and Selphie, respectively. Seifer's barely detected feelings for the Trabian haven't faded in the least. In fact, without him realizing it, they seemed to grow during the two months. Selphie still had her inner turmoil concerning her strong emotions toward Irvine, but she still hadn't made a peep about it to anyone. She didn't know if Irvine himself did, though. Still, the two acted as if nothing happened. They never talked about that night in the Quad.

"Oh, look, it's Leonhart," remarked Seifer one morning as he came up to a lone Squall sitting at their regular cafeteria table. He took a seat next to his commander.

"... Oh, look, it's Almasy," Squall greeted back. He watched as his former arch rival set down a full tray. The breakfast included a pancake stack, two large croissants, two fried eggs, three strips of bacon, a medium-sized serving of hash browns, and a tall glass of milk. Oh, yeah, and a glazed doughnut.

"... Hyne..." Squall commented, his eyes slightly widened. Suddenly, the Lion's bowl of cereal seemed very pathetic.

"What?" asked Seifer, spreading butter and pouring syrup all over his pancakes, preparing to chow down. "I eat hearty."

"This is why I never eat with you guys at breakfast," Squall said, staring down at his cereal. He rubbed his eyes. "I swear, you're worse than Zell and his hot dog fetish."

Seifer shrugged, his mouth full of pancake.

"I'm surprised you don't weigh as much as a Caterchipillar. Or maybe like, twenty of them. What are we going to do with an ex-knight we have to roll down the hallway?"

The blond took a swig of milk. "You're verbally abusive, you know that?" he replied. "If you talk enough, that is... you were better when you had only one word in your wordbank."

Squall half-smiled and returned to his breakfast.

Neither of them noticed that a certain bubbly, yellow-clad girl had snuck up behind them, waiting for the right moment to scare the living daylights out of them.

"BOOOOO... YAKA!!" Selphie (with her hair back in her flip) yelled as she planted a hand on each of her friend's shoulders. Her voice actually echoed throughout the room.

Squall jumped out of his seat in surprise while Seifer choked on his doughnut. All three of them could hear chuckling from other students.

"You guys looked like you were gonna die or something! Tee-hee!" Selphie replied when they noticed it was her.

Seifer swallowed his food. "Damn... Messenger Girl... I almost did..." he coughed a little bit and then drank some more milk.

"Selph..." Squall started, rubbing his temples. "Why do you do this so early in the morning?"

"Sefie, disturbin' the peace again?" Irvine came strolling to the table with a tray with two plates of chocolate chip waffles and two glasses orange juice, for him and her. He and Selphie sat across from the two guys. The cowboy blinked at Squall. "Nice change of pace, Commander. Sitting with us, for once..."

"Awesome!" Selphie cheered. Squall inwardly smiled. Her happy-go-lucky attitude was starting to grow on him. Sure, Rinoa had the same attitude and was a less hyper version of Selphie... but she was... too gentle... he wanted someone more intense--

"Yo! Mornin'!" Zell greeted everyone as he showed himself, a tray of of a hot-dog-cheese-pepper omelette with him. He sat next to Selphie.

Seifer turned to Squall. "By the way, shouldn't you be with that girl of yours?"

Squall paused and then answered, "I don't know. Fujin let me in the dorm and I came by her room and she said through the door that she wanted to sleep for five more minutes. So then I waited and knocked again after five minutes... then she said she wanted ten more... y'know how it goes."

"Hah," Seifer replied, smiling. "Studying all night, I suppose. Does it too much, that teacher's pet. She'd probably choose schoolwork over you, Leonhart. I can see her taking her textbooks on dates or something. And if that doesn't work out, her second choice would probably be Angelo."

"Now who's being verbally abusive?" Squall replied stoically, his heart not in this conversation.

"You're not very nice, Seifer," Selphie spoke up. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Phmm!" the blond seemed to answer in an annoyed tone. His mouth was too full of food to say any real words.

Squall bit back a laugh.

It wasn't long before Fujin joined them for breakfast. "MORNING," she said as she sat down, orange in hand.

"Morning," everyone else chorused.

She noticed Seifer's breakfast. He was about two-thirds done. All he had were the bacon and the hash browns. "HUNGRY?" she asked him.

Seifer nodded as he took a bite out of his hash browns. "Like always. Where's our beloved instructor?"

"GRADING," Fujin and Selphie said at the same time. The first looked at the latter, who giggled happily. "She's so predictable!" Selphie quipped. "She's always eating her toast in her dorm as she grades stuff."

"Raijin said he was going to the library to find some book that just arrived," Zell piped up. "Said he already had breakfast."

Irvine wolfed down the rest of his waffles and chugged his juice. He stood up from his chair with his tray and started to leave.

"Where you going?" Selphie asked curiously.

"I promised to train with Caiyne Calibre before homeroom," he told them.

"Who's that?" Zell questioned. "Some other chick you wanna sleep with?" Selphie winced at how blunt the martial arts specialist could be.

"Hey!" Irvine scolded, whacking his friend on the head. "She's not just some chick! She's a very... intellectual chick... with long, glossy blonde hair... very nice curvy body..." He looked away, his mind drifting.

"Hyne, here we go..." Seifer groaned. "You and women..."

Selphie silently continued eating, ignoring the conversation.

Squall, who said once he didn't care about other people's problems, was very intuitive of them. _(Selph?)_ he asked silently, seeing her unusually quiet, unhappy state. He didn't like a mopey Selphie. No one else seemed to notice, even Irvine, who usually kept Selphie's feelings dear to his heart.

"Fine, fine! I'll leave you losers to your food," Irvine finished, bidding them farewell and leaving the cafeteria (but not before putting his tray up).

"I think I'll train, too," Seifer spoke up, looking down at his watch. "Man, I can't believe how early we came this morning."

"And every morning?" Zell interjected.

"That too." Seifer finished the last of his food and drink and got up to throw his trash. He put the tray on top of the bin and started heading away. "Later," he called over his shoulder.

"Hey!" Selphie jumped out of her seat and ran after him. "I wanna come too!" She was suddenly all smiles again.

Squall scratched his head. Selphie confused the hell out of him. One second happy, the next not, then back again. That was the only thing he absolutely didn't like about her: her mood swings. He told himself to screw it. "...Whatever."

The others remaining at the table just looked at him. Who was he talking to?

"Tilmitt, quit skipping like that. It's embarrassing," Seifer barked as they headed to the Training Center. Beside him, the little nunchaku specialist punched him on the arm.

"You're mean," she complained, but started walking like a normal person.

"You know I'm just playin'," he replied. "Skip all the hell you want, but not around me."

"You're still mean," she retorted.

When they reached the Training Center, past the doors, Selphie gave her signature "Booyaka!" and entered with glee. Seifer just shook his head and followed her, his Hyperion slung over his shoulder. It was scary how she could get excited over the smallest things.

And yet... he smiled secretly to himself. He still liked her all the same.

_"I can wait for her..."_

And he really would.

* * *

Rinoa felt something lick her face. She stirred and waved it away, thinking it was just part of her dream, but it whined and continued. _(Wait...)_ she thought groggily. "Angelo!" she sat up at once, wiping her face of doggy-kisses.

Angelo put her front paws on her lap, wagging her tail wildly.

_(Homeroom! Late!)_ She got up from her bed quickly and searched her closet for a clean outfit. She vaguely remembered Squall knocking on her door several times to get her up. Her heart sank. She should be excited to see her boyfriend... but now, her dread was getting worse. She was getting sick of him-- She shook her head furiously. "No!" she thought out loud. All of the things they went through in the past year couldn't have been for nothing. She had to Squall. Love love love...

But that dread was overcoming her thoughts. Yup, the romance was definitely gone. She rushed to the bathroom, her thoughts shifting to Zell. She had been dropping hints incessantly, althought she knew it was a mistake because he was the slowest person in the world when it came to getting a clue.

Angelo whimpered and laid her head on the edge of the bed, as if understanding Rinoa's lament. The sorceress didn't really know what to do but break up with Squall... and soon.

"HA HA! Another Grat dead!!" Selphie cried triumphantly. She did her little victory pose.

"Heh," was all Seifer responded, wondering if she ever got tired once in her life. This was more than he can handle. "Maybe I should start heading to homeroom now..."

Selphie didn't want to. "Hold that thought," she replied as she ran to the Secret Area. She just had the strangest feeling... it wasn't a good one.

"The hell you doin'?!" she heard Seifer ask her.

It wouldn't take that long. She couldn't resist the weird urge to go take a look, even though she shouldn't.

Peeking through the door, over by the balcony, she found Irvine and Caiyne, a spiteful, yet gorgeous looking girl with golden blonde hair talked closely... too closely to Irvine, now and then planting kisses on his lips. Irvine was kissing back, flirting and flattering her.

Selphie didn't like this at all. She knew she shouldn't have bothered... now she was going to be depressed the entire day. _(Stupid Sefie,)_ she reprimanded herself. _(You never learn.)_ She forced herself to laugh it off, trying to take away any feelings of jealousy.

She started wandering slowly to a very impatient Seifer. He looked like he was going to explode, pacing around. She must've been gone longer than she thought.

He looked up when he saw her. He tucked his Hyperion away and let her have it. "Tilmitt, if you make me late, I'm going to kick your ass," Seifer growled, pulling her with him to the entrance.

"Then why'd you wait for me?" she asked softly.

"Because you're my fucking friend," he retorted, still angry.

She felt touched. "Thanks, Seifer..." she tried sounding like her usual self, but she just couldn't.

"Besides, you're helping Instructor Quisty again, right?" He started dragging her to the elevator. Seifer looked down at his watch. "At least we still have time... come on." He pulled her along. He was expecting a remark from her, a little "Booyaka!" or something... but she didn't say a thing. He stopped to really look at her. Her eyes were empty. The smile was gone. And her energy seemed to be gone as well.

This wasn't the little messenger girl ten minutes ago. "Selphie?" Seifer questioned worriedly, his eyes softening. "What is it?" It scared him to see her like this.

Like at breakfast before, she came back to life. "Nothing you should worry about!" she answered brightly. She linked arms with him and started skipping to the elevator, with him stumbling along reluctantly. "Let's go to class, Sei Sei!"

"The hell? Sei Sei?" he repeated. He stared at her as they entered the elevator together. Wasn't she depressed a second ago?

* * *

It was now after school, and Rinoa was on her way to the cafeteria. Her eyes distractedly wandered the huge academy until they fell on a person nearby she recognized. "Zell?" Rinoa called, as she almost walked past the T-boarder, who was lying face up on a bench by the fountain. He wasn't sleeping, but he looked like he wanted to.

He didn't turn. "Hey, Rinoa." He waved.

She stared down at him. "What are you doing?"

"Nothin'."

"Really now?" She raised her eyebrows. Zell was a strange one, all right. "Define nothing."

He shrugged and sat up. "I don't know. Thinking." He looked away. He shifted so that Rinoa had room to sit. "Come join me if ya want."

She gladly accepted the invitation and plopped down on the bench. She glimpsed at him out of the corner of her eye. He hasn't been himself lately. He used to be brash, loud, and sometimes even irritating. Maybe he's starting to mature? Rinoa wanted to know what he was thinking. He's been like this for the past couple of months.

"Zell? Is something up?"

He looked at her. "Nothing's wrong... I told you I was thinking." He snorted, his elbows on the edge of the glass barrier around the fountain.

"Oh..." she frowned. "About what? Tell me."

"Fine, but don't tell anyone... I'll only confide in you since you were in my dorm that night," Zell told her, leaning in close. Rinoa blushed at the lack of distance they had.

He looked around for a second to see if the coast was clear of anyone they knew. It was. "Okay, well... I took Brie to Calypso... you know where that is, right?"

"Yeah, Quisty and I went there one time..."

"Anyway, I took her there... I felt... I don't know... uncomfortable." Zell scratched the back of his head. "It just didn't seem right to be with her."

"I see..."

He propped his arm on the barrier behind Rinoa and leaned in toward her. She acknowledged this with slight surprise and flushed even more. She could feel her heart pounding hard.

"We had small talk, but nothing exciting..." Zell took a breath for the next part. "When we went outside, she turned to me and said that she loved me, but I highly doubted the feeling was love and told her should couldn't... and I told her that I just didn't feel anything for her... and that it would take time for us to be friends because we lacked so much... what do you call it?"

"Chemistry." Rinoa stifled a giggle. This wasn't the time to laugh at an unhappy Zell.

"Yeah, that... Brie tried to kiss me... but I didn't let her because I just knew she was being too desperate."

Rinoa nodded.

"Then she got mad at me and slapped me and ran away."

"Slapped you? That must've left a mark. How come none of us noticed?"

"Potion. I didn't want anyone to know... but afterward, she's been sending me hate e-mail and all this other crap that I don't frickin' need." Zell shook his head. "But... it's my fault for really hurting her feelings... she really set her sights on me, and I felt like I shattered a dream or something..."

"Zell..."

"I realized how stupid and impulsive I am... that's why I'm such an easy target for people like Seifer to make fun of me," Zell explained. "I want to change that."

"Don't let people like her get to you. You're our Zell and you feel the way you feel because that's what's in your heart." She smiled consolingly. "Don't keep things in so long. It's not good for you."

His smile returned. Zell jumped up and looked down at Rinoa. He held out a hand for her to take. "Thanks, Rin. You're a good pal."

Rinoa laughed and accepted his offering hand. "Thanks. Glad you think so." She stood up.

"To yon cafeteria to eat thy hotdogs, Lady Rinoa!" Zell led her to the cafeteria, joking away with her.

* * *

"Sefie... it's November... the Festival isn't for a while... maybe February," Irvine complained. "You don't need to be working so much on it..."

From her place on the stage, Selphie stuck in another nail into the set piece and hammered away. "Hey, no one wanted to help! It's gonna be a bigger workload! So pshh!"

"You think that I, your best friend, won't help you?"

She only looked up at him.

He held up his hands. "Okay, okay, so I used to be a helpful person and now I flake... but Sefie..."

She set down her hammer. "I need to do this! No one in Garden volunteered, and since this is a non-profit thing, we have no money for this to hire people, Quisty and Squall are always busy--" _(And I want to get my mind off of you...)_

"I get it, but--"

"Too bad, so sad, Irvy!" Selphie exclaimed, grunting as she pushed the part of the set piece backstage. "I'm gonna be working on this all day, so..."

"Come to Balamb with me, Seifer, and Fujin... pleeease?"

"Selphie!" called Squall's voice. The two friends turned and found him, followed by Seifer, jogging to the stage area.

She hopped off the stage. "Squall! Seifer! You guys wanna help me with the--"

"No," answered Seifer immediately, holding up his hand.

"Guys, keep her away from the Quad," Irvine stated wearily. "She's been workin' nonstop without any breaks or rests for the past frickin' month... actually two months if you count all her brainstorming."

"You have?" Squall asked her. "Don't you get tired?"

She smiled. "Nope nope! I have endless energy!"

"I can see that, Sefie," Seifer said dryly. "Why don't you quit slaving over this shit and come hang with us? It's Friday..."

"C'mon," Irvine quipped. "It'll be fun! You, me, and Seifer can be the orphanage posse again!" _(She's been avoiding me, I think...)_ he thought.

"Sorry." That was exactly what she wanted to get away from. She and Irvine haven't been spending very much time together with the exception of breakfast time. She still couldn't get over him, no matter how much she tried. She found that she thought of him less if she didn't see him at all.

"You deserve a break, Selphie," Squall added. "You can rest in a nice hotel by the sea."

_(Squall... not you too... bummer!)_ she thought in dismay.

"Sefieeeee!" Irvine begged. "It's not gonna be fun if you don't go, too!"

_(Your loss!)_ Selphie was getting annoyed. Can't they see she was hard at work on her baby?

Seifer glared at him. "Thanks, buddy. I pretty am un-fun." He turned back to Selphie. "But--"

"I don't want to!" cried the Trabian. "I'd rather work!" Right after saying that, she clamped her hands over her mouth. She didn't mean to sound so rude.

The three males stared at her with wide eyes.

"Uh... tee-hee, sorry," Selphie apologized, playing with the curl in her hair. She suddenly looked very tired, her lack of rest finally catching up to her. She took a step, but lost her balance. Squall steadied her.

"Selphie, I'm leading you to bed, right now," Squall told her, his hands on the girl's shoulders.

"Squallyyyy, what are you talking about? I have--"

"Sefie, listen to your commander!" Irvine scolded her buoyantly.

Seifer silently looked from Squall to Selphie. He wasn't liking the fact that Squall was touching her... in fact, he wanted to rip his hands off of her and take care of the little SeeD himself...

He shut his eyes and turned away. That needed to stop. His crush on Selphie was getting stronger... he was becoming too jealous. If this got any worse, Seifer would go out of control.

He needed to talk to Quistis about this. "Stetson, I'll meet you and Fuj in the Garage in a few hours. Later." He looked at Squall and nodded. "Bye." He patted Selphie's arm briefly before going off to find his instructor.

Irvine looked at Squall. "Guess I better REST up before I go to Balamb," he said pointedly, frowning at Selphie. "Make sure she RESTS, Squall." He walked away.

Once again, Squall was left with Selphie. Fate must've had something to do with it. She shrugged out of his grip. "I'm fine, Squall." She moved to the stage and started to jump up on it. The commander grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to the ground. "I thought I said--"

"I hate you. It's all of your fault," Selphie complained tiredly. She wasn't aware of what she was saying. "You all didn't want to help me, so I have to do it by myself if I want it done by February."

"We're really sorry... we'll help you next time," he told her, knowing her brain wasn't all there.

"No, you won't..."

"..."

"Bye-bye, Squally," she pushed him weakly away from her. "Go do your commander stuff."

"I'm not--"

"Go away..." she rubbed her eyes and grabbed her clipboard.

He scowled at her. "Does it matter to you that I value you as a friend?" He crossed his arms. He watched as she stumbled to the stage stairs on the side. She couldn't keep her energetic act up for that long.

Her eyes lit up and she giggled. "I'm fine, see?"

He didn't change his expression.

Selphie stood on the edge of the stage and looked out, as if calculating something. But all of a sudden, she dropped her pencil and her clipboard and fell forward from the stage.

_(Shit...)_ "Selphie!" Squall ran forward as fast as he could and caught her, his arms wrapped around her back tightly to keep from dropping her. A blush crept over his face as he stood there, contemplating about the girl in his embrace.

_(Selphie Tilmitt...you... I... I think...no...)_

Shaking thoughts of her aside, he hoisted her over his shoulder and made his way to his dorm.

* * *

_(Why is he telling me this?)_ Quistis thought as she listened to Seifer ramble about Selphie. _(Why does he like Selphie? What's so special about her?)_ She frowned at herself. She was supposed to be her friend, she shouldn't think badly of the younger SeeD.

Yet, the further the conversation with Seifer went, the more Quistis got mad. What made Selphie better than her? Quistis herself was an instructor, meaning she was smart, reliable, and dependable... she was mature... and helluva lot prettier...

_(Quistis! Stop this!)_ she thought in shock. _(Selphie is your friend! Don't be jealous!)_

And yet... she was starting to let her feelings for Seifer be... and she can't go anywhere with Selphie in the way...

Now she was getting furious. If she couldn't have Seifer, then no one will. "Why the hell does everyone like Selphie?"

He stopped talking. _(Whoa...)_ Seifer thought, his jaw dropping. Something was wrong if Quistis used the word hell. "Uh, Quisty?" he said uncertainly. "What crawled up your ass today?"

A gentle one, Seifer was.

"She has you, Squall, and Irvine if he were such a blind imbecile, wrapped around her finger!" Quistis replied hotly.

"_Squall?!_ What the--?!"

"I mean, I'd understand if it were Rinoa, but that bratty Selphie?! What does she have that I don't?"

He was rendered speechless.

"Why would you want her? Why would you even try? Isn't there someone else who doesn't act so juvenile?" Her ice blue gaze burned into him with anger, disapprovement, and... envy? Or was that just him imagining it?

Seifer blinked. "I... Quis..." Quistis was never like this! He blinked again, trying to get himself back to the real world by saying stupidly and out of the blue, "Okay... why would Squall like her? He has a girlfriend, in case you forgot..." _(Strange, I've been sensing kind of the same thing with Rinoa... except it's her and Chicken-wuss...)_

Quistis reeled back, embarrassed that she burst like that. "If you were an expert on Squall's inner thoughts like I am, you would be able to tell, too." She stood up from her desk.

"Quisty... I like Selphie... hyperness and all," Seifer told her firmly. "You do, too... so I would appreciate it if you talk about your childhood friend with some damn respect."

Quistis gave him an unapologetic, grim smile. "Sure. Sorry." She turned away, musing to herself.

He frowned at his instructor, realizing that she was probably hurt. "Quis... are you all right?" He pulled himself out of the study panel and walked to the front of her desk. _(Damn, Seifer... you really are getting soft.)_

She looked at him in slight amusement. He was actually asking her if she was okay. "I'm okay, I guess, Seifer... I'm just sick of never being the one seriously sought after... I have the Trepies... but they're fans, not potential dates."

He raised an eyebrow, smiling. "Quistis, I really don't think you have a problem there. You just have to fucking wait...it's worth it." He watched in satisfaction as a grin slowly spread across her elegant face. "You'll see I'm right," he added. "I always am."

"That's pushing it."

Seifer proceeded to the door. "I oughta go... hey, you know, I think I know what GF I'm signing for the prerequisite. I'll do that before I leave for Balamb."

She began shuffling graded papers. "It's early, don't you think? You have until the the beginning of exam week to get one."

"I wanna get a head start." He leaned against the wall. "Besides, no way in hell am I letting anyone else even think of taking the GF I want."

She eyed him curiously. "Which one would that be?"

"Knights of the Round."

Her eyes popped out of their sockets. "Knights of the Round? Are you sure? That'll be one tough battle to obtain that one."

"Come on, Rinoa's thinking of getting Hecate."

"But there's hardly any information on Hecate...! We don't know if we can trust that one, especially since I've heard she was cursed!" Quistis shook her head. "Ugh, you students today..."

"It's all right. Fuj signed for Typoon and Raijin's going for Ramuh. I don't think Kinneas really cares at the moment. He'll probably end up with Hades or Kjata or something."

"At least they're smart."

Seifer sneered at her. "Well, I think I'll go sign in Xu's office right now for my GF." He turned to the door.

"Hold on... Seifer?"

He stopped to look at her. "Hm?"

"I'm sorry... about what I said about Selphie," she muttered slowly. She cast her light blue orbs to the floor. "I... really don't have a problem with you chasing after her. If you like her, you shouldn't... hold back."

Seifer suddenly felt terrible, yet didn't do anything but say, "Thanks, Quisty. Later." He strolled out the door without waiting for Quistis to reply.

* * *

Squall laid Selphie on his bed, tucking in the covers around her carefully. He sat beside her on the edge and turned on the side-table lamp on the dimmest setting... so he could see her cute sleeping face.

He smiled.

"Squall?" called another voice.

He whipped his head around, and remembered he had given Rinoa a keycard to his room at the beginning of this past summer. It's been a while since they had spent private time together. He frowned. (Rinoa...) A feeling of dread came over him. This morning, he felt all right toward the raven-haired beauty. He even remembered to check on her this morning. But more he thought about Rinoa, the more he wished was with a certain someone else instead. Squall couldn't do this anymore. He couldn't go one pretending he was still in love with her. As much as he cared for her as his first love and a good friend, he was tired of this fantasy he had called a relationship.

Squall shut his eyes briefly, mentally preparing himself. He's going to do it. He's going to break up with Rinoa.

_(What will she say when she finds Selphie here?... Hyne... I hope I don't break her heart too badly.)_

"Squall, are you here?"

"Yes," he called back. He watched as she made her way to his bedroom. She stopped at the door and glanced at the girl in his bed. She grinned a little. "Oh, what's this?"

_(Good, no suspicions...)_

"Selphie."

"I know that, stupid!" she giggled. "What is she doing here?"

"Fell asleep while working."

"I see. She works too much on stage these days..."

There was another reason why they should break up. Rinoa sighed at how much romantic chemistry was lost since the autumn after Ultimecia's defeat. There was still some there, but it had nothing to do with love. She made imaginary circles on the floor with her toe. "Well... I came here because I needed to talk to you... and it can't wait much longer."

This was getting awkward. "Okay," said Squall.

_(How should I start?)_ Rinoa thought to herself. She was afraid she would end up hurting him really badly. But she couldn't see him under false pretenses.

"We... this isn't working." She didn't look at him.

_(She feels the same way.)_ The commander nodded. "I know," he replied quietly.

She looked at him, surprised. "You do?"

"I feel like our relationship was a fantasy, a dream... a nice one," Squall explained, "but then... we woke up."

"Yes... something about it didn't seem real," Rinoa answered, almost sad. _(Wow, this is going a lot easier than I thought...)_

The two were quiet for a bit. Squall glanced at her briefly. She really was a gorgeous person, on top of it kind, generous, and open. He wished he could stay in love with someone as amazing as her, but his heart wanted to go elsewhere.

"This is it," Rinoa spoke up. She gazed earnestly at Squall square in the eye. "You weren't my first love, but you as a boyfriend, were very special to me... you still are, like the rest of the gang." She looked up at him. Squall was hard to get through to, but once he opened his heart, he became the sweetest, most caring guy. His wonderful good looks was a plus for her. If only her heart had told her to stay... but she knew there was someone more right for him than she.

Squall stood up and walked to her. "You have a special place in my heart, Rin. You were the first person I've ever loved and I thank you for opening me up."

"You're welcome," she responded softly.

No regrets.

The two shared a hug. It was only a friendly gesture. Of course, they would miss the good times, the times they spent together and all the events leading up to their relationship, even if it was almost an illusional one of a hero and a damsel. Breaking up is what both their hearts and minds wanted to do. Weights have been lifted off their shoulders, and all the awkwardness before was gone.

They let each other go without any reluctance. Rinoa looked over again at Selphie and grinned mischievously. "You found someone already, I see."

"..."

"You like her?" She meant it as a question, but it sounded more like an obvious statement.

"..."

"You do realize that you're turning pink."

Squall turned his head away. "Rinoa... stop." The color didn't fade away when he glanced at her with a bit of guilt in his eyes. "... Sorry."

Rinoa knew exactly what he meant by that single word. "Don't be! I know I should be offended that you would like someone before we even broke up, but... you know, I'm not. At all."

"..."

"Hey, I'm all for you and her." _(Ugh, but then I'm also all for her and Seifer, too... geez...)_ She crossed her arms. "Now guess who I like! It's kind of random. Guess!"

Squall found he also couldn't be offended by or hurt by something like that, in fact, he rolled his eyes and glanced at the sorceress. This girl was just as childish as Selphie. "I have no idea, Rinoa. Azul Dawning?"

"Who?"

"Forget it. I don't know."

She didn't hold back. "Zell!"

Squall coughed, not quite sure he heard right. "What?" _(Who in their right mind would... Zell?!)_

"I know what your thinking," Rinoa quipped. "He's an impulsive, loud moron... but... I don't know... I can't really explain why I like him so much... but in my opinion, real love can be like that."

Squall took that into thought. _(So sometimes you don't have to have a reason to love someone...)_

"Yeah... so... I think I'll go walk Angelo," his now ex-girlfriend announced. She sauntered to the door. "See you around, Squall."

"See you."

She gave him one of her 'Squall only' smiles, the last one, and the next moment, she was gone.

_(It was great while it lasted,)_ Squall said silently.

He sighed and turned back to the sleeping Selphie, his prime concern. His hand found its way to her hair, and ran it through her chestnut-colored locks. He was feeling something strong for her. He didn't want to just grab her and kiss her, since it was not something he would ever do, but he had the urge to do something about his emotions. He recognized some of it as longing, like how he felt for Rinoa before.

But he remembered that he couldn't even if he wanted to, because she was still stuck on Irvine.

* * *

"We've waited so long, Azul," muttered a female alto voice. "When will we have a real chance to destroy the SeeDs and promote the government that should be in place?"

Azul, a dropout of Galbadia Garden alongside the girl with him, turned from the balcony of his and Ciel's in the Balamb hotel room to his comrade. So much for watching the sunset in complete silence.

"You've gotta wait, Ci," he answered. "We have all the time in the world to plan for our big scheme. We still need information. Where and when the SeeD field exam will take place. We can't take any risk of letting future SeeDs exist."

"You failed our last attempt," Ciel snorted. "Those three bullets were meant for Josef Guthrie and one each to those SeeDs guarding him." She looked to the side. "A shame... those two happened to be heroes of this world."

Azul closed the balcony door behind him and sat on the edge of his bed, across from Ciel, who was sitting on her own. "It wasn't me who shot at them... it was Jarek Guthrie, Josef's son."

Her eyes widened. "Wow."

He shrugged. "Well, opposing opinions in government can really tear a family up." He ran a hand through his raven-black hair. "But anyway, our faction is to have a meeting soon, but right now, Bethe Rhiannon is sulking throughout this town, waiting to bomb this place. We also have reconnoiters of our faction in the Galbadian capital and Dollet, but they're on hold since they have something else planned. We want this place destroyed to distract the media, officials, and civilians from suspecting us of anything."

Ciel raised a blonde eyebrow. "Won't they if we go with the plan tonight?"

"Ms. Rhiannon has assured us that we are completely safe."

"If you say so... so, what are we bombing?" she queried. "It's tonight, isn't it?"

Azul smiled mysteriously. "Bethe is taking care of it right now."

* * *

Selphie let out a rambunctious yawn as she stretched her arms above her head. She sighed contentedly and stared up at the ceiling. How long had she been asleep?

She turned over in bed to look at her sunshine yellow alarm clock... only it wasn't there. Instead there was an unfamiliar plain black one.

And she didn't remember having an oldish-looking brown phone on her bedside table. Selphie sat up, perplexed. Her face a big question mark, she turned to the closet. Inside was the case with Griever on it that unmistakably belonged to Squall Leonhart.

"Meh?!" the girl popped out of the bed, wondering why on earth she was in Squall's bed. Or in his room, for that matter. She scratched the back of her neck in thought.

Unexpectedly, the door slid open. "MEH?!" Selphie cried again, jumping back.

On the other side revealed the commander himself, giving his friend a familiar indifferent look. "Selphie," he greeted her, his eyes revealing relief. "You're awake."

She waved him off and laughed. "No, Squall, I'm still dreaming. Don't you see the purple chocobos and the silver moombas dancing around your bed right now?"

He sighed. "Selphie..." He sat down on the edge of his bed. "You really need to rest more. Overworking yourself isn't healthy... at all."

"I'll be fine! I have endless energy, Squally... ENDLESS," she insisted rhapsodically, flailing her arms around.

"So what do you call today?" _(Owned,)_ he thought triumphantly.

"I..." She hardly remembered anything before her nap. She knew that right before she went into her slumber, she fell and got caught by someone cozy who smelled of leather... "I dunno," she said meekly.

"Told you."

"WAIT!..." Selphie was starting to remember her day. "You were there... Irvy was there... Sei Sei was there..."

"Sei Sei."

"Yeah! Sei Sei! So anyway... Irvy wanted me to go to Balamb with him and Fuji... I guess Sei Sei was back up support for that..." she cocked her head to the side at Squall. "So why were you there?"

"Because I was going to give you a mission," Squall explained, "but seeing your condition... I thought better of it. Gave it to Nida. He just got back."

"What was it?"

"To help Dollet's soldiers secure some political convention over there. There have been rumors of a terrorist faction trying to assassinate people there... or something... I didn't read the mission letter too well."

"Bad commander!" Selphie remarked devilishly. "Shame on you!"

He shrugged.

She giggled to herself and sighed.

"I guess I should tell you first since you're here, and you're my friend," Squall muttered nonchalantly, switching topics. "It's about Rinoa..."

"What about her?" She was all ears.

He glanced at her. "We broke up."

"WHAT?!" They were the 'it' couple. They were inseparable. They were...

_(...Not as stuck to each other since class came into session...)_ she finished silently. _(Maybe the time apart due to class and work made their love go kaput.)_ Still, the breakup was news to Selphie. "When did this happen?!"

"A few hours ago," he answered calmly. "While you were sleeping."

"This happened while I was asleep?!" She gaped at Squall in disbelief.

He nodded. "In this very room, actually." He smirked slightly at her even more baffled expression. "We both agreed that the relationship didn't feel real enough and wasn't working out. It hasn't been for quite a while..." He didn't seem to regret it at all, which fascinated her.

"I see." _(Wow, Rinoa and Squall aren't together...this'll take a while to get used to...)_

"Yeah."

Not finding anymore to say, Selphie started skipping to the door. "Time to go!" Before she could leave, she craned her neck to peer at him gratefully. "Thanks back there. I would've cracked my head and split it open if you didn't catch me, tee-hee."

"Stay."

She turned around. "Nuh-uh, Squall," she wagged a finger at him. "There's still so much more to--"

He pointed to the pillow on his bed. "That's not enough, Selph."

"Yes it is!" She stomped her foot childishly.

"Selphie..." he said indignantly. "Stay. Here." For a moment, everything seemed to stay still as his penetrating orbs locked onto her friendly ones, begging her. Acting so persistent wasn't intentional, but he was just worried about the petite brunette.

Meanwhile, her heartbeat could be heard in her head as Selphie raised her eyebrows, taken aback. Something told her that there was more to what he said... and that she should go along with it. _(Wha... I... he... Squall...)_ She couldn't even formulate a complete thought because she was so... not mentally there.

Squall stood up from his bed to close the gap between him and Selphie. "I..." he began uncertainly. There was so much emotion running through him that he didn't know what to do with it all.

He stepped closer and closer until he was at the right distance to kiss her. Surprisingly, she didn't move. She only kept her eyes on the man before her, suddenly enchanted by him.

He cupped her chin with his hand and tilted her head up as he closed his eyes and bent his head down toward hers.

"Squall," she breathed softly. Selphie shut her own eyes, waiting for his lips to meet hers, until her brain came back to life. _(Selphie! What the heck are you doing? You love Irvy! Irvy!)_ Her eyes shot open. She put her hands on his chest and pushed him back just before he could actually kiss her.

He stared at her in bewilderment. She glared at him.

Squall started to ask apologetically, "Did I do something wro--"

"You're a super-duper-mega-ultra-loser-face!" she declared, stomping through the sliding door, her back to him. That surely spoiled the moment. "I'm gonna work and you can't stop me! So there!"

The door shut behind her, leaving the gunblade specialist alone in his room.

And all Squall could do was blink at the door blankly.

* * *

"Fujin, I'm never letting you drive again," a disturbed Seifer spoke up that evening as the three of them arrived in Balamb, still holding onto the dashboard even after she parked the car.

"Amen," whimpered Irvine from the backseat.

"GOOD DRIVER. QUIT COMPLAINING." She seemed annoyed.

"You are _so_ not a good driver..." Irvine muttered, remember how swerv-y her turns were... how fast above the speed limit she drives, and how she hardly slows down before she brakes.

"RAGE." Fujin gripped her seatbelt with great strength as she unbuckled.

"Oh, by the way--" Seifer started, but the rest of his sentence was cut short by a painful, booming roar coming from somewhere in the town. The impact caused the ground and the car the three of them were in to shake for a solid four seconds.

"What the fuck?!" the blond yelled, furiously unbuckling his seatbelt and scrambling out of the car. All he saw and smelled was black smoke, and it was coming toward him. He heard screaming and yelling coming from where the train station was...

"The train station! It's coming from there!" Irvine shouted, as if reading his mind. He took out his Exeter (just in case) and clicked the safety off.

"WE GO. NOW," Fujin coughed, unsuccessfully trying to wave smoke away. She took out her Zan and got down on her hands and knees to see if she could see under the smoke. She couldn't.

"There's no way we'll get there!" Seifer exclaimed. "I can't see a damn thing!" He grabbed his Hyperion and clicked its safety off.

Irvine suddenly had an idea. "Hey! We could see whats going on from one of the higher room in the hotel! Let's go! Then we can contact Squall!"

"GOOD. LET'S GO!" Fujin agreed, already running her way to the hotel. The young men followed her lead as they rushed through the entrance of the hotel.

The people staying there and the ones working were hustling about, panicked and scared. Fujin, Irvine, and Seifer pushed past the civilians as they made their way up the spiraling staircase.

The hotel was approximately fifty stories high, and the three cadets planned on getting up on every single one. Balamb had not had any renovations for a long, long time, so no elevators were built yet to make things any easier.

Fujin stopped at the landing of the 37th floor, exhausted. She leaned over and panted while the other two caught up, tired as well.

"I don't think we really need to go to the top," Seifer told his friends, out of breath. "I think we'll be able to see what's going on from here."

"I have a mobile phone. I'll contact Squall," Irvine piped up as he reached into his coat pocket for his phone.

Fujin looked around, crossing her arms. "ROOMS. SOME LEFT OPEN."

"So you're saying we'll just barge in and look out from the balcony?" Seifer concluded.

"YES. USE ONE ON THE LEFT."

Irvine was dialing Squall's cell when Seifer spotted a door left ajar and swung it open all the way. He went in, followed closely by Fujin. The cowboy went in too, although he was preoccupied with contacting the commander. He went ahead and closed the door, but not all the way.

"Leonhart," the Lion greeted the caller.

"Hey, Squall," Irvine said urgently. "I hate to be the bearer of bad--"

"We heard, Irvine." He sounded distressed. "We're dispatching SeeDs to Balamb right now. You, Fujin, and Seifer stay the hell away from the scene."

"We're in Balamb Hotel now. We're planning to overlook the town to see from an aerial viewpoint to see the damage."

"Irvine, you guys are cadets. You don't have to do anything. Like I said, we sent--"

"It's fine, Commander..."

Irvine continued talking to Squall as Fujin and Seifer made their way in the unlit room to the balcony. They looked out. In the distance they spotted black smoke coming from the train station. Fujin felt a feeling of sadness come over her as ambulances and a van containing SeeDs jumped out of the car, the mentioned SeeDs including Zell, Nida, Quistis, Firion, and Xu.

The train station was on fire. One of the few bright things against the darkening sky. A heavy piece of debris fell onto the booth nearby where the usual necessities were sold. Fujin hoped the seller was all right, but she had doubts. The roof that had been held above the train station had collapse on to the train itself, and she guessed that there were still people in it. A fire truck, its siren wailing, screeched to a stop near the fire. The one-eyed cadet observed as the firefighters hurriedly did their duty.

"Fuj..." Seifer mumbled, unable to turn away from the damage.

"Yes?" she answered softly, looking at him.

"I wonder... if I had actually seen what I did... back then..." He sighed. "... I wonder if I would've felt as horrible as I do now..."

"I don't know," she told her friend, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Seif--"

"Fuck it to hell," he suddenly hissed.

Fujin whipped her head to whatever he was staring at, for she could hear what was happening.

A loud, shaking, crumbling sound was heard as the entire station fell into a heap of wreckage, not able to hold itself up any longer. The firefighters quickly put out the conflageration that was left, and soon nothing but white smoke was coming from the ruins.

Meanwhile, Irvine said good-bye to Squall and hung up just after he informed his superior of the collapse of the train station. The cowboy was watching not too far behind Seifer and Fujin, and all he could do was shake his head at the events of Balamb that day. He turned away, looking at one of the unmade beds. As he did so, he noticed a strange blue manila folder sitting there, open for the world to see its contents. Curious, he went over to the bed and picked up the folder, reading the memo that was in it.

**TO: Member of the REVOLUTION faction codename Tartuffe  
FROM: Commander of the REVOLUTION faction codename Rothphi**

_(Who might these fellas be?)_ Irvine wondered. _(REVOLUTION? They sound suspicious...)_

**Operation All Aboard will proceed tonight at 1800 hours as planned.**

_(The hell... All Aboard...?)_ Things were starting to come together to Irvine as he read the letter to himself. His eyes furrowed in worry.

**Member codename Spikeball is to meet at Point A as discussed at the meeting last week. Spikeball will set off Jack-in-the-Box at approximately 18:30.**

_(They sure like their codenames for everything...)_ Irvine looked at the time. It was 19:23. It sounded about right when compared to how long it had been...

**The Jack-in-the-Box will pop up at approximately 1900 hours. You and member codename Amethyst will be on standby.**

"Hey, Seifer... Fujin," Irvine called slowly to his companions after he finished reading the memo.

They turned to him. "What, Stetson?" Seifer asked somberly.

The Galbadian held up the files in his hand, letting the evidence to the talking.

"Mission accomplished," Ciel murmured to Azul as they watched from the roof of the hotel. "Now we make our move... er, at least one of them..."

"Mm-hm," Azul muttered absently. He knew he wasn't supposed to, but a part of him... felt bad. He shook himself of those feelings and turned to the violet-eyed girl next to him. "Let's go back to the room. I may have accidently left the door open in the rush of these previous events."

So the two of them left the roof.

_(No turning back,)_ thought Azul, a determined look on his ruggedly handsome face.

They went down one flight of stairs and then took the rest of the way by elevator. They're trip back was quiet and contemplative, and the both of them took this time to muse about other matters.

Azul and Ciel sauntered out of the lift on the 37th floor. They spotted their room not too far away, and there they also found a dirty-looking Bethe, was probably outside near the scene of the crime. The third member was standing, looking through the slightly open door.

Azul and Ciel gave each other a questioning look and jogged to her. Before they could ask, Bethe glanced at them out of the corner of her eye, drawing out her spiked flail, her weapon of choice. "SeeD," she rasped dangerously.

Fujin was good at sensing auras. She knew when other people, namely people she didn't like, were around. She, Seifer, and Irvine had just finished looking through the file that Irvine had found. Although the information seemed obscure and vague, the three knew that this was useful for capturing the culprits behind the explosion.

"Something wrong, Fuj?" Irvine asked, noticing that she wasn't moving. She looked like she was trying to sense something out of her line of vision.

Irvine looked toward the door and saw no one, but he lowered his eyes so that he could see the human shadow falling on the piece of lit-up ground from the lights in the hallway. "Seifer... Fujin... get ready..." the cowboy whispered, aiming his Exeter toward the door.

"Huh?" Seifer questioned.

"Shh..."

Fujin knew exactly what Irvine was doing. She too, looked at the door, standing firmly, ready for battle. Seifer stood next to her with his gunblade ready to go. Fujin pulled him down to her so she could whisper in his ear. "I think our criminals are watching us from outside the door. Be prepared."

Seifer did so.

Irvine slowly crept to his left, positioning himself against the wall, two feet from the corner. He carefully aimed his gun at the edge of the door closest to the person there. He knew he wouldn't be able to get him/her, but he could get pretty damn close. He nodded at his friends as he pulled the trigger, a sign of wanting to initiate battle.

The Demolition bullet hit the edge of the door, making a mark on it and hitting the ground like he wanted to. The shot made the shadow suddenly move away, making it disappear for a moment until it appeared again.

The door swung open, and Irvine quickly stood, his gun ready to shoot. Fujin gripped her Zan tighter, narrowing her lone eye at the three intruders.

Seifer cocked the Hyperion, glaring at the three who stood there.

"SeeD," one of them, a scarlet-haired, blue-eyed girl about his age muttered. She was holding a mace, or a flail, or whatever it was (Seifer wasn't strong on weapon names) and glaring at him and his comrades as if they were disgusting beings that didn't belong in this world. She was wearing a green tunic that matched her wavy, red ponytail, although designed in the style of this generation, with a lighter-toned, long-sleeved leotard underneath. She had on knee-high, light tan boots, with a sharp toe and thin heels. She had a metal dragon necklace around her neck. Two sets of chains that clashed with her outfit went over each of her shoulders, adorning her like sashes. Another set seemed to hold the previous ones in place, set securely around her waist.

"SEED?" Fujin repeated. "NOT SEED. "

"Close enough," a black-haired guy in a black muscle shirt, dark blue pants, combat boots, and a thick, military-style black vest. Beneath his vest, she and the others could see that he too had chains around him in the same fashion. What did that mean? The third person, a blonde-haired, violet eyed girl, had chains, also, which didn't match her outfit. It was a form-fitting lavender shirt with one long sleeve and the other arm sans sleeve or cloth on the shoulder, even, but on the bare arm was a long arm warmer the went from her wrist to a little past her elbow. She had a loose, black tank over the lavender shirt that barely reached her stomach. She wore black suede pants with black boots with a white belt set loosely around her waist. She had four silver beads around her neck as chokers.

"Who the hell are you?!" Seifer exclaimed. _(They must think we're SeeDs because Kinneas helped Squall, Selphie, Zell, and Quistis last year... but don't they know me?... Oh well, seeing me with them will put me on the good guys' side.)_

"You should know," the blonde spoke up menacingly. "You read through our files." She aimed her bow gun at him and fired easily before the heroes could dodge.

The three arrows that were shot at once hit him in the thigh.

"Almasy!" Irvine cried from his corner. He shot at the girl once. She jumped out of the way in time.

Seifer growled at the pain in his leg, but didn't fall. He called for a Blizzaga and targeted at her. It was got her head-on. "You did all his shit," he told them in a sinister tone.

"We won't deny it," the scarlet-haired one said, swinging her flail above her head. She ran forward and knocked the Zan out of Fujin's hands. It smashed into a wall, some of its sharp points getting it stuck there.

Fujin scowled and crossed her arms. Irvine moved forward and started firing some rounds at the three of them. A bullet hit the redhead on the shoulder and the only male of that group took two, one in the arm and one in the shin. The other times, the cowboy missed.

Seifer waited for Irvine to finish his rounds and then charge at the three enemies with a cry of rage, only to meet with the red-haired girl, who stepped out in front of her comrades and swung her flail in his direction. The chain wrapped itself around the Hyperion heavily. The grey-coated one struggled as he tried to pull his gunblade away from the other's grasp, but she was indeed strong and she pulled Hyperion from Seifer's hands easily. The gunblade detached itself from the flail and swiftly crashed blade-first into the wall behind its owner's opponents.

"Damn," Seifer murmured. All he had were magic and GFs now.

Irvine targeted the redhead for his next shot. "You're Bethe, huh?" he uttered to her, smirking.

She cast Triple on herself. "Yes, I am." She grinned mischievously.

The cowboy fired. Bethe stepped out of the way, at the same time hitting him with her weapon. The spiked ball made hard contact with his face, making him fall sideways. The Exeter flew out of his hands, hitting the wall to the side of them and then dropping to the ground. And it wasn't nearby, either.

Fujin was at his side immediately, casting Curaga on his wound. Next to them, Seifer cast Meteor. Their enemies were severely weakened, but still able to fight.

"Fucking SeeDs and their cadets," the black-haired one, Azul, muttered. He held up his hands, performing some elaborate hand motions. The heroes could only guess that he was ready to either do a spell or summon a GF.

Bethe put her Triple spell to use, casting Death on all three of the students.

Fujin, Irvine, and Seifer were still standing.

"Did we tell you we were immune to that, bitch?" Seifer remarked.

Done with the hand motions, Azul put his hands down as a black mist shot out, completing the spell. He disappeared and a vague figure in a black, hooded cloak replaced him. Ciel and Bethe had vanished, a normal thing that happened during a GF spell.

The three cadets looked at each other. They've never seen that summon before...

The figure had its head down, the hood covering its face. It didn't move, it didn't attack. Fujin readied herself to cast Ultima, staring at the GF warily. Why wasn't it doing anything? It was deathly silent, as if the world was on mute.

Seifer was the first to break the silence. "Fuj, while we have time for ourselves," he spoke up quietly, seeing that she had her spell ready to go. "Do it. Nothing's stopping you."

"Guys..." Irvine's eyes widened as he spoke, backing away.

"What, Kinneas...?" the ex-knight asked. He looked from his friend to the guardian force. Fujin looked too, curious.

The figure's head was slowly lifting to face the three.

Fujin didn't know why, but she had a strong sense of fear rising within her, and she didn't know why. She didn't get scared easily. Suddenly, she lost her train of thought and the Ultima was gone from her grasp and back into her inventory. She couldn't look away as the head rose up.

Seifer gulped. A GF never scared him until now. _(What's happening?)_ he asked himself. He was breaking into a sweat, he was shaking, his hands felt clammy, and he yearned to look away but it seemed like he was frozen.

Irvine shivered as the GF lifted its head. He let out a cry as he struggled to turn away.

It looked at them, and all the three of them could remember was how they could see their biggest fears and nightmares in the GF before everything around them went black.

* * *

__

**A/N:**I honestly think I could've done a better job on this chapter... plus, I'm not so awesome on action descriptions.. --.

You may be confused about that GF Irvine, Fujin, and Seifer met up with. We will call him Reaper, even though the characters don't know that yet. He's meant to be left obscure and vague. What they "saw" will be left to your imagination... what do YOU consider to be the scariest thing you'll ever see?

Oh, and before I forget...

Azul Dawning, Ciel Maestoso, Bethe Rhiannon, Josef Guthrie, Jarek Guthrie, Alethea D'Artemus, Caiyne Calibre, Brie Sirea (name only), Ralse Triton, GF Hecate, Firion St. Germaine (name only): owned by me...

Although the names Josef, Ralse, and Firion are from past FF games (II, VI, and II respectively) and Aeris' (VII) name is in Brie's surname backwards, they are names I pretty much made up. ... Tartuffe I got from the Moliere play of the same name and Rothphi is the -phiroth of Sephiroth (VII) switched.

I'm sorry the Squall/Selphie development is moving so slowly! I swear it'll pick up a LOT more in the next two chapters!!

And I'm also sorry if the terrorist/explosion scene hit home. I wrote this chapter about a month before it happened. And now I'm hesitant about putting this up.

Oh, I have this weird system of putting/writing chapters. In order for me to put a chapter up, I have to be two chapters ahead in writing... like if I'm putting up this chapter, Chapter IV, then I should be working on Chapter VI. I don't know why, but this system makes me comfortable... but really, right now, I'm on Ch. VII, so expect Ch. V soon. ;)

**REVIEWER TIME!! **

**123:** Yes, Squall/Selphie fics do rule.

**Aramaring:** You don't like Seifer/Selphie? Oh, well, that doesn't matter. Your opinion. Hey! There was one Squall/Selphie moment in Chapter III! Don't be greedy! P

**rikku-chan:** Haha. Thanks for the support. XD

**looney-lass:** Thanx. And I _will_ keep updating! (Duh, lol)

**Grasshopper2:** Thanks a lot. I try to keep them IC. I really do.

**TiffyCoop:** Yeah, I feel the exact same way about Rinoa... but you won't see that portrayed in my fic because only a bad author would suddenly make her a bitch when she's not at all. Oo

**Reno Loire:** Um... are you sure I have the sign wrong? Every book I have says Virgo starts on August 23rd. And plus, I don't think any sign starts on the 24th of any month. Unless his birthday is wrong... when is Squall's birthday? Yeah, Squall was mean to Laguna... hint, hint... it won't be that way for long. I think Laguna's awesome!

**selphie18:** Yay! Squelphie and Selfer fans rock!

**Kitty, queen of the leprechaun:** Oo;; Hyper much? Queen of the leprechaun? As in... ONE leprechaun? LOL. Uh... like I said before, sleep is GOOD! Don't be like me and go through two hours of sleep and then go to school WITH band practice after school for two more hrs... even though I have more energy than when I sleep longer.. OO...

THANK YOU, REVIEWERS! I 3 YOU!!


	6. V: What If I Told You

**A/N:** _Uh... haha, sorry couldn't think of anything to type here. Um, yeah, the towns in FF8 are kinda small. You don't see a hospital or a firestation anywhere in Balamb... or even any frickin' bathrooms in Zell's house Oo... but of course I'm pretty sure there's more to these places... they're just not very important... (as if they'd put a random scene of Squall in the shower or something...)_

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VIII and the lyrics to "The Breeze" from Final Fantasy III don't belong to me.

* * *

**_Maybe It Could Work  
by: Elcyion Pitye_**

* * *

**V. What If I Told You...**

_  
Are we wrapped in mysteries?  
Walking down the winding roads?  
Can we find the reason why we are  
In this world of trials?_

Seifer slowly woke up, putting a hand to his forehead. He found himself staring at a white ceiling. It took him a while to realize that he was lying in a cot in the infirmary. There was a murmur of voices outside his room.

It suddenly hit him what happened. Balamb, the explosion, the rebels... the GF. He shivered inwardly. Looking at its face was like looking into a nightmare from hell. He couldn't explain it, but it just got him and his friends so afraid.

___(Friends... damn.)_ Seifer looked around for signs of Fujin and Irvine. He found the two asleep in a couple of other cots opposite of him. The blond sighed in relief.

The door suddenly slid open, and Quistis, Rinoa, and Squall entered. All three looked relieved as they found Seifer sitting up, looking reasonably well.

"How do you feel?" Quistis asked, grabbing a chair nearby and sitting down in it. "You, Fujin, and Irvine have been knocked out for about a day."

He rubbed his eyes. "Like shit."

He glanced up at his instructor. "I hate to ask, but... what were the casualties?"

Squall averted his eyes to the bed. "One hundred and ten killed, around one hundred more either wounded or presumed missing. They're all at Balamb Hospital. Selphie and Nida are checking up on them."

Fujin yawned, catching everyone's attention. She sat up, blinking the sleep out of her eye. She smiled tiredly.

"Fuj, are you all right?" Rinoa questioned, walking to her roommate's side. "Do you need anything?"

"I FEEL LIKE SHIT."

Seifer snorted.

Raijin entered then, followed by Dr. Kadowaki. "Hey, ya know," he greeted everyone. He plopped himself into an empty chair while Kadowaki went around checking on her patients. As if on cue, Irvine, his hair loose and un-hatted, woke up noisiliy, stretching as the doctor reached his cot. "Damn," he yawned, "I feel like--"

"Shit?" Squall finished for him.

The Galbadian gave him a look. "That was exactly what I was gonna say. How'd you know?"

Squall deadpanned. "Lucky guess."

Kadowaki frowned at their choice of words but continued checking her patients.

"Oh yeah!" Raijin took out a magazine from his back pocket and tossed it to Irvine. "This came for you, ya know. Let me borrow it when you're done, ya know."

Irvine looked at the cover. "Awesome, the newest issue of Weapons Monthly!" He immediately started flipping through it. "I've been waiting to get this one... they have new weapons stronger than the ones we have now!"

That got everyone in the room but Kadowaki interested.

"Really? Like what?" Quistis wondered. "I don't think anything could beat the weapons in the premiere issue."

"There are some new gunblades..." Irvine read. "Armageddon and Pluto Croix..." He looked from Squall to Seifer. "Thinking about upgrading?"

"Nothing's better than Hyperion..." Seifer scoffed, crossing his arms.

"Or Lionheart," Squall added stubbornly.

Rinoa rolled her eyes.

"For the Armageddon, its Limit Break includes Line of Fire, which can destroy anything in its path for up to eight acres in a matter of nanoseconds. I'd say it gives Lionheart a run for its money."

"That's bull." Squall held his hand out. "Let me see that."

"Pluto Croix... damn, Hell's Cross is the Limit Break... it says it's about ten times as strong as Hyperion's Burning Cross," said Irvine.

"Fine, I call that one," Seifer replied, raising a hand slightly.

"IDIOT," commented Fujin.

"What I say?!"

"Whips... um, The Majestic... Rinoa can upgrade hers to Blue Seraph... Raijin could go with Finale..." The cowboy continued skimming the pages. "Briar Wreath for Fuj and... hey, Blood Shark for me. Sweet!"

"Well, Irvine, Fujin, and Seifer," the almost-forgotten Kadowaki spoke up. "I think you three are all right enough to go back to your dorms."

"Actually, come with me to my office," Squall said, his mouth set in a line. "We need to talk about... that."

Seifer, Irvine, and Fujin's expressions suddenly turned somber. Uncharacteristally somber.

Rinoa glanced at Squall. "I think we should wait on this a little..."

He frowned. "I'm afraid we can't, Rin. We need to know about the people they encountered. They must be the anarchists we're after."

"Don't be too hard on them, Commander," Kadowaki informed him as the trio got out of their beds and retrieved their respective accessories that were set near them.

Squall waved. "Yeah. Later." He left the infirmary, with Seifer, Fujin, and Irvine following behind. Kadowaki went out the room and to her desk.

Rinoa, Quistis, and Raijin went their separate ways soon after.

Selphie and Nida were waiting for Squall in his office when the commander and the three cadets came in.

"Selphie, Nida," Squall greeted the SeeDs. "Anything to report?" He avoided looking right at the Trabian. He felt awkward about what happened the day before.

"Not really," Selphie replied, saluting. She didn't seem to feel weird around Squall. But then again, she was talking to him as commander, not as her friend. "But the patients seem to be doing okay. And we checked on things as far as Balamb itself is concerned, but there's still a mass clean up going on there. Several lower ranked SeeDs are helping with that."

"As well as the locals," Nida added, saluting too. "Detectives are looking into what exactly happened yesterday. No details."

"All right," Squall said, sitting down in his chair as hecleared his throat and leaned over in his desk slightly. "So, the anarchists. Tell me about them."

"They had files stupidly left out in the open," Seifer answered. "Stetson found them and showed them to us. Their faction was called REVOLUTION."

Nida started taking notes.

"TWO GIRLS, ONE GUY," said Fujin.

More details were being told by the cadets. Selphie's mind started drifting to more trivial things. Out of the corner of her eye, she stared at Irvine as he spoke and listened. Despite the fact that she was easily reminded of his rejection just by seeing him, she couldn't help but still love him.

___(Stupid, stupid love... Stupid heart for making me feel this way...)_ she chided herself.

She sighed inwardly, a smile gracing her features again as she reverted her attention back to the others.

"So, what knocked you guys out?" Squall asked them. "When Zell and Quistis found you, your bodies were cold and your faces were set in screams... yet you were still alive." He furrowed a brow. "What was that?"

Seifer, Irvine, and Fujin all exchanged looks.

"I personally don't want to talk about it," Fujin piped up quietly. "It's... hard."

"Me neither," Irvine said. "The GF... it... yeah... it was like... looking at our worst nightmares..." He looked away, his gaze happening to fall on Selphie. "I'm glad you weren't with us, Sefie," he told her.

She shrugged. "I guess."

Irvine blinked at her lack of energy. Selphie wasn't acting quite right to him. Or maybe she was tired from that damn Festival of hers._(Or maybe it's me... actually... she's changed this year... not a lot, but enough to be noticeable by her best friend.)_

"It was a GF?" Nida asked. He rubbed his chin in thought. "What did it look like?"

Seifer described it for him reluctantly. Selphie started daydreaming again, thinking Squall this time, even though she didn't know why she would. She watched him as he ran his hand through his fine, brown hair and took his turn to speak in his smooth, quiet tenor voice. She finally noticed how attractive his face was: his lips, his nose, even the barely-there stubble. Her stare moved to his hypnotizing blue-grey eyes. A normal person would be intimidated by his eyes, but they made Selphie feel at ease.

___(It's because we've been confiding in each other a lot lately,) _she pointed out silently. ___(And Squall always made me feel better.)_ There was a brief smile at that thought.

"We need to look into this GF," Squall was saying. "Thanks, guys, for talking to us about this. You can leave now, if you want."

"I better go check out some chicks," Irvine piped up, sauntering to the door. "Can't leave them waiting." He walked out, the door sliding closed behind him. A few seconds later, his head popped back in. "By the way," he said to the others. "My birthday's next week!" His head disappeared.

Squall rolled his eyes and turned to Seifer, Selphie, and Fujin.

"LEAVING... TRAINING CENTER," Fujin announced. She started leaving, followed by Nida, who said he was going to report to the headmaster.

Seifer put a hand on Selphie's shoulder. "Hey, Sefie," he started tightly, "let's go to the Secret Area. I want to talk to you."

Squall narrowed his eyes at him. He wasn't stupid. He could tell Seifer had a thing for her. ___(If you tell her you like her, Almasy, I'll... damn.)_

Selphie looked like she was about to say yes, but Squall quickly grabbed her arm. "Actually, Selph, I need to discuss some... business with you. Now."

Selphie looked nervous for a brief second, thinking about her almost-kiss with him, but replied with, "Oh... okay!" She giggled up at Seifer. "Sorry, Sei Sei, it'll have to wait. Later!"

Seifer stared at Squall sourly a long while before saying, "Right-o. Bye, guys." He left quietly.

Selphie skipped to his desk, picking up the Weapons Monthly Irvine accidently left there. "So, Squally-ally, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Squall didn't bother scolding her for the nickname this time. He sat against the edge of his desk. Once again, he called for her but didn't have anything to say._(Oh, wait...)_ He should apologize for yesterday. "Well..."

"Ooh! New weapons!" she cut in, beaming. "I'm SO getting Evening Glory!... hey, Zell might like the Flaming Tyrant. His Ergheiz gloves are getting worn out... doesn't Nida use a trident? He could get Talon Edge--"

"Selphie," he griped.

She put the magazine down and sat in a chair. "Sorry, Squally. What is it?"

"I just... wanted to..."

"This isn't real business, is it?" She suddenly interrupted.

"No--"

"Bummer, Squall! If it wasn't busi--"

"SELPHIE," he said firmly, losing his patience. "Let me finish."

"Sorry." She crossed her arms, pouting up at him.

He shut his eyes briefly. "And don't do that. It looks..." ___(Hyne, she looks cute even when she's not smiling...)_ "... It looks cu--pathetic."

She grinned a little. (I caught him... oh, yeah, I caught him almost saying the word cute... boooooyaka.) "Fine."

Squall sighed before going on. "Well... sorry. About yesterday... I shouldn't have... you know."

She knew what he was talking about. Her eyes softened quite a bit as she answered. "It's okay. You didn't mean to... I mean... we were both just caught up in the moment, you know? But the kiss wasn't going to mean anything, right?" Somehow, the words didn't sound right coming out of her mouth, but she didn't want to go into depth with that.

Her commander's face darkened for a mere second. "... Right. It... wouldn't."

"Sorry I just ran off like that... I was feeling awkward."

___(So you say some weird, random thing before you stomp off?)_ he thought. "It's all right," he replied out loud to her.

"Yeah, so..." She stood up from her chair. "I'm gonna go see Sei Sei."

___(No, not him...)_ Squall thought, not wanting her to leave to go to HIM. "You've given up on Irvine?"

She got quiet. "No..." She stopped moving, looking up at the Lion. "I told him... and... of course he didn't feel the same way..."

Squall put his hands on her shoulders. "But you still didn't giv--"

"I... I don't know, Squall..."

"When did you tell him?"

"Like... months ago..."

Squall sighed. "Selphie, you should have told me or something."

"And what? Listen to you gripe about how much Irvy sucks?" she snapped softly, shrugging his hands off of her. "That's partly why I didn't tell you about that and how I felt about it. The other reason is that I... I think there's more to what happened than... what I went through that night..."

"..." (Why Irvine, Selphie? Why not... me?)

"Sorry," he muttered. "I, well..."

She looked at him expectantly.

"Never mind."

There was a thoughtful pause on Selphie's part before she began speaking again. "I've been trying to block him out of my mind, actually, by working all the time when I could be hanging out with him... but... it's not working and I still see him every day and I'm pretending that I'm all right with him not--"

"Selph..." Squall said over her, frowning. "Why torture yourself over this? Don't you want to be happy?"

"But I'm always happy!" She suddenly pepped up and started dancing around.

"NO, you're not, you and I both perfectly well know that," he argued. "I think..." He smirked morosely as he said this. "I think you'd be better off chasing after someone else... who doesn't play the field... at least, that's how I feel--"

___(Someone else... as in...)_

___(Me.)_

Squall was suddenly rewarded with a tight hug from her. He put his arms around her in return hesitantly, wondering what he did to deserve this. He raised an eyebrow and looked down at her. "What's this for?"

Selphie rested her chin against his chest and smiled up at him. "You've come such a long way, Squally! You've changed soooo much! I'm so proud! We used to have to pry your thoughts out of you with tweezers!"

___(Um, with tweezers...?)_

"I'm sorry I snapped at you," she said apologetically.

"I-It's all right..."

She squeezed his waist tighter until Squall felt as if he couldn't breathe. "Hey..."

"Oopsy!" She started letting go Squall slowly, her fingers lightly brushing against his sides unintentionally. He squirmed and stepped back immediately, hitting himself against his desk. "Ow," he mumbled to himself.

Selphie stared at him, realizing something.

___(Uh-oh...)_ Squall thought in dismay.

"Squall..." she said, grinning deviously. "You're ticklish!"

He looked around for an escape, out of her reach, but he was stuck... unless he jumped backwards onto his desk and flipped backwards to land behind it, which was something possibly only Zell could do...

"Uh... no, I'm--" Without him being aware, he felt her fingers lightly touch him at the sides and he actually giggled. He quickly stopped, realizing how humiliating that was and glowered at the shorter SeeD. "Selphie!" he yelled at her, unsuccessfully making a grab for her hands.

She was just having too much fun. She tickled him again, earning more high-pitched laughter from her commander. "STOP!" he cried through his laughs. "Selph--"

"But it's so cute!" She giggled merrily.

Squall fended her off and turned to run away from her reach, only to trip on a chair leg and fall down face-up to the ground with a thud. She pounced on him evilly, straddling his legs and tickling his stomach without mercy.

"SELPHIE! STOOOP!" he howled.

"Hehehe. Does Rinoa know your ticklish... here?" She attacked his sides again before he could think of stopping her.

"Ye-hehehe-es she do-hahaha-es!!" Squall laugh-screamed. He grabbed her wrists and pushed them away, holding them against her. She wrestled with his grasp.

"No!" she yelped, struggling. "I want to--"

"No, you're not," Squall panted, recovering from laughing so much. "... When did you become so strong...?"

Selphie giggled and with all her strength, tried reaching for his stomach. "Squally...! I wanna...!"

"NO."

She bit his left hand, forcing him to let her right wrist go. "That hurt," he growled.

She brushed her fingers against his stomach. Suddenly, Squall laughed louder than he ever did in his entire life, causing him to let go of her other wrist. She attacked him full-on, and the poor commander had no way of getting away from her, for her legs were tightly attached to him, so he couldn't get up and drop her in the process (Selphie was that light).

The door slid open without them knowing. Xu entered the room, wondering why it was so loud in there. She was talking to the headmaster and--

She found Squall on the ground with Selphie on top of him, both laughing like crazy. Their positions didn't look quite right. She pursed her lips together to keep from laughing and crossed her arms as she announced her presence. "Having fun?"

They both stopped, looking up at Xu. Squall with the deer-caught-in-the-headlights look, and Selphie with a brilliant, amused smile.

The petite SeeD hopped off of Squall and pulled herself to her feet. "Heya, Xu!"

Xu snorted inwardly, covering her mouth with her hand. "Hi."

Squall slowly got off the ground, his indifferent look returning. "Xu. What is it?"

She waved the two off. "Oh, I have nothing to say." She suppressed a snicker. "I was just wondering what all that noise from this office was. Cid and I were weirded out."

Squall put a hand to his forehead, abashed. "Sorry."

Xu began walking back out, tittering aloud this time. "Don't worry about it. You continue whatever you two were doing. Keep it down, though." Her snickers turned into full-blown laughs as the door closed behind her.

"Hyne..." Squall mumbled, rubbing his temples. "That was embarrassing..."

"Awww, get used to it," Selphie replied. She poked him in the stomach.

"Hey!" he cried, jumping back in alarm. Seeing her shocked face, he calmed down some. "Uncalled for."

"Wow, you really are ticklish!" she giggled.

Squall deadpanned.

The laughing died away, and Selphie looked up at Squall in a pleasant silence.

"What?" he asked.

"I feel so much better now," she responded. "Thank youuu!" She moved to hug him again, but he reeled back, holding his hands out in self-defense. She laughed again.

"Tee-hee, you fear me now, huh?" She stared at him again, her head cocking to one side, as if he was an interesting speciman of Odine's.

"...Yes. Yes I do."

* * *

Seifer yawned. It was late that night, but no one planned to go out anywhere. That was all right. He enjoyed the peace and quiet. He still didn't have a roommate after Ralse left, but it was just as well.

He sat down at his desk and logged on to the Balamb Garden Network. He was up for some serious online chatting. He knew that all his friends were probably online, too._(Sad, sad ninnies...)_ he smirked as he started up his own private chatroom between him and the others.

* * *

**YOU HAVE ENTERED "THE DAMN ROOM"**

* * *

Then Seifer clicked over to his buddy list and invited Selphie, Rinoa, Zell, and Nida, since those were the only people online at the moment.

* * *

**DevilishHalo72 has entered "THE DAMN ROOM".  
ZDA55Kicker has entered "THE DAMN ROOM".  
JustAGuy261 has entered "THE DAMN ROOM".  
SunshineSefie has entered "THE DAMN ROOM".**

**DevilishHalo72:** the damn room? cute, sei sei, cute.  
**XxHyp3r10nxX:** aw shit, rin, don't tell me u're calling me that too...  
**ZDA55Kicker:** hey guys  
**SunshineSefie:** oooh! nida's online for once!! booooyyyaaaakkkaaaa!!  
**JustAGuy261:** yay, i feel welcome

****

ClikClikBANG has entered "THE DAMN ROOM".

**ClikClikBANG:** well, i'm in the damn room.  
**DevilishHalo72:** hey irvine  
**ZDA55Kicker:** hey irv  
**ClikClikBANG:** heey! its zell!  
**ClikClikBANG:** the zellmeister!  
**ClikClikBANG:** the zell o rama!!  
**ClikClikBANG:** the zellinator!!  
**ClikClikBANG:** the zelldor!! the zellsophrenic!  
**ZDA55Kicker:** ok...  
**XxHyp3r10nxX:** omfh  
**SunshineSefie:** hahaha!  
**ZDA55Kicker:** ...  
**ZDA55Kicker:** the room sux, seifer  
**XxHyp3r10nxX:** stfu, chicken-wuss  
**SunshineSefie:** chicken-wuss!!  
**ZDA55Kicker:** UNCOOL  
**SunshineSefie:** Chicken-Wuss!!  
**ZDA55Kicker:** shut it, selphie!  
**SunshineSefie:** CHICKEN-WUSS!! P  
**ZDA55Kicker:** ARGGHH!!  
**DevilishHalo72:** geez, u guys... haha  
**ClikClikBANG:** wow...  
**XxHyp3r10nxX:** ...

**ReigningQueen101 has entered "THE DAMN ROOM".**

**XxHyp3r10nxX:** hey quisty  
**ReigningQueen101:** Hi, Seifer.  
**SunshineSefie:** chicken-wuss... )  
**SunshineSefie:** ...chicken-wuss...  
**SunshineSefie:** ...chicken...wuss...  
**ZDA55Kicker:** selphie, if u say that one more time, im gonna kill u!  
**ClikClikBANG:** hey now  
**ClikClikBANG:** play nice ;)  
**SunshineSefie:** P luv ya, zelly.  
**ZDA55Kicker:** ...  
**ReigningQueen101:** ...?  
**JustAGuy621:** sry, gotta go.

**JustAGuy621 has left "THE DAMN ROOM".**

**ZDA55Kicker:** yo, squall's in my dorm rite now, jus so u know  
**ClikClikBANG:** uh... wutz he doin there?  
**XxHyp3r10nxX:** having hot, mad, passionate...  
**ReigningQueen101:** ...  
**DevilishHalo72:** ...  
**SunshineSefie:** WAH! my virgin eyes!!  
**ZDA55Kicker:** seifer if u dare...  
**XxHyp3r10nxX:** ...conversation  
**XxHyp3r10nxX:** damn, u guys are sick ;)  
**ZDA55Kicker:** This is Squall.  
**ZDA55Kicker:** And I will kill Seifer.  
**SunshineSefie:** ooooh...  
**XxHyp3r10nxX:** what? i didnt say nething dirty!  
**XxHyp3r10nxX:** ure no fun...  
**ReigningQueen101:** So, Squall... what are you doing there?  
**ZDA55Kicker:** Talking.  
**ReigningQueen101:** Ah. Just hanging out, then?  
**ClikClikBANG:** about...?  
**ZDA55Kicker:** SeeD  
**ZDA55Kicker:** actually (this be zell, btw) we were talking bout other things 2  
**XxHyp3r10nxX:** like...  
**ZDA55Kicker:** like se293ifjoipa;894u0r  
**ReigningQueen101:** Don't want to know...  
**ZDA55Kicker:** haha, i kicked squall! neway, we were talking about selphie  
**ZDA55Kicker:** NO, we weren't.  
**ZDA55Kicker:** hey, its no big d0923rjo;fjjfueuhga;a;oklj  
**ZDA55Kicker:** .je;fro 9'3f oir39ur  
**SunshineSefie:** what about me? huh huh huh? ppl nvr gossip about me!  
**ReigningQueen101:** No, they do. Believe me.  
**ZDA55Kicker:** flw239ujr'2339ik-32f-0  
**DevilishHalo72:** uh...  
**SunshineSefie:** aww, u guys are acting like little schoolboys w/ a crush...  
**XxHyp3r10nxX:** uh, what?  
**ClikClikBANG:** ok, sefie...  
**ZDA55Kicker:** /l3r0pofblb brb owje/w3o

****

ZDA55Kicker has left "THE DAMN ROOM".

**ReigningQueen101:** Um, wow.  
**DevilishHalo72:** what was that about?  
**ClikClikBANG:** hell do i know?  
**DevilishHalo72:** OMH!! with all the crap in balamb going on i nvr told u guys!!  
**ReigningQueen101:** What?  
**XxHyp3r10nxX:** wut?  
**SunshineSefie:** whaa?  
**ClikClikBANG:** what?  
**DevilishHalo72:** squall and i broke up yesterday!  
**ReigningQueen101:** ... REALLY...  
**DevilishHalo72:** yup  
**ClikClikBANG:** whoa...  
**SunshineSefie:** psh, i knew that D  
**XxHyp3r10nxX:** ...u seem happy about it  
**DevilishHalo72:** it was mutual  
**DevilishHalo72:** zell prolly knows by now. i told fujin today, too

* * *

Seifer raised an eyebrow. So the power couple of Balamb Garden broke up. And Squall was awfully protective of whatever Zell was going to say about Selphie. He remembered Quistis telling him that Squall liked her, too. Squall and Selphie have been spending a lot of time together...

Not good. Seifer's insides boiled. Selphie's single, Squall's single... they've suddenly become best friends, the commander pretty much taking Irvine's place.

It was always Squall. Always. ___(Why does he get everything and I want and I get nothing?)_

He turned back to the chatroom._(I should tell her soon, I guess... even with obstacles in the way...)_

* * *

**XxHyp3r10nxX:** so sefie, we nvr got around to our talk  
**DevilishHalo72:** what talk?  
**SunshineSefie:** bummer!! sowwie, sei sei... ( i forgot  
**XxHyp3r10nxX:** s'ok... sum other time, i guess... it's not that important  
**ReigningQueen101:** I smell something...  
**DevilishHalo72:** Oh, Hyne... soap operas abound...  
**SunshineSefie:** what??  
**XxHyp3r10nxX:** what??  
**ReigningQueen101:** Haha, never mind.  
**ClikClikBANG:** hey, wtf? u guys never tell me nething!

**SqLeonhart1 has entered "THE DAMN ROOM".**

**SqLeonhart1:** Sorry.  
**XxHyp3r10nxX:** hey commando  
**SunshineSefie:** so squally, were u and zelly really talkin about me? D  
**SqLeonhart1:** No  
**SunshineSefie:** awwwwww (  
**SqLeonhart1:** Fine. Yes.  
**XxHyp3r10nxX:** ...  
**DevilishHalo72:** hahaha  
**ClikClikBANG:** ok?  
**ClikClikBANG:** hey, rai wants on. g'nite.

**ClikClikBANG has left "THE DAMN ROOM".  
Elektronikal has entered "THE DAMN ROOM".**

**Elektronikal:** so i've heard about the break up ya know  
**Elektronikal:** irv just told me ya know  
**DevilishHalo72:** haha  
**SqLeonhart1:** It's not that big of a deal...  
**DevilishHalo72:** no big deal?! what gives?! that hurt! thanks a lot, squally-poo! (  
**SqLeonhart1:** Whatever  
**SunshineSefie:** u're sooooo caring, squally  
**DevilishHalo72:** i g2g. fujin's turn online.  
**SunshineSefie:** byebye!  
**XxHyp3r10nxX:** nite, rinoa

**DevilishHalo72 has left "THE DAMN ROOM".  
BREEZE999 has entered "THE DAMN ROOM".**

**BREEZE999:** HI ROOM  
**ReigningQueen101:** You actually type how you talk?  
**BREEZE999:** DON'T YOU?  
**ReigningQueen101:** ... Why?  
**BREEZE999:** WHY NOT?  
**XxHyp3r10nxX:** owned  
**ReigningQueen101:** I can fail you, Seifer, you know.  
**Elektronikal:** owned  
**Elektronikal:** ya know  
**BREEZE999:** SEE, HE TYPES LIKE HE TALKS TOO.  
**XxHyp3r10nxX:** owned again, quisty.

**SqLeonhart1 has left "THE DAMN ROOM".**

* * *

Squall turned in Zell's swivel chair to face his friend, glaring at him murderously.

"What?!"

"Do you ever keep your mouth shut?"

"I don't see what the big deal is," Zell protested, sitting on the floor, leaning against the side of his bed. "Besides, my mouth WAS shut! We were online, for Hyne's friggin' sake!"

"You know what I mean." Squall shook his head. His thigh still hurt from when Zell kicked it while they were fighting for the keyboard. Afterward more fighting, he finally punched the blond in the stomach to gain control of the computer.

___(Damn,)_ Squall thought. He was ashamed of his actions. Very childish.

"It's not like I was gonna tell them you liked her or something," the T-boarder spoke up. "We didn't talk about anything like that. We talk about the Festival, then our conversation drifted to Selphie, and you go on talking about how nice she is as if she were a goddess."

"..."

"That's really unlike you. What the hell did she do to you?"

___(She completely mesmerized me.)_ "She did nothing."

"I bet she brainwashed you somehow," Zell hypothesized as a knock came to his door. He turned to it and called, "Come in!"

Enter Rinoa, smiling coyly. She greeted the two boys and sat down on the edge of Zell's bed, near the martial artist.

"What's that look for?" Squall asked her, knowing that she probably had some scheme in her head.

"Nothing," she replied. "Just happy. Just found out Caraway didn't get the popular vote..." she sighed, satisfied at her father's misfortune. "Most likely he won't get electoral..."

___(Oh...)_ Squall thought.

"Oh..." Zell said out loud. He jumped to his feet.

There was another rapping at his door.

"It's way past curfew," Squall noted dimly.

"Oh, screw it," Zell declared. "No one follows that anymore. Yo! Come on in!"

This time, a familiar auburn-haired Galbadian entered the room. "Evenin', guys." He plopped himself down by the wall across from them, his legs drawn up to his chest casually with his elbows resting on his knees. "I was bored, so I figgered I coul'drop on by."

Squall rolled his eyes. (I swear, his native Galbadian accent gets stronger every day... I wonder why Rinoa doesn't have one...)

"Yeah, me too!" Rinoa said.

"Rinoa, why don't you have a Galbadian accent?" the commander suddenly asked. "Or your father, for that matter?"

Everyone looked at him weirdly. Randomness...

She giggled. "Well, since I was young, Caraway thought I should speak more properly so that I seemed more dignified (in other words, prim, proper, and snobby), so I had speech lessons until I was about fourteen. Caraway wasn't originally from Galbadia, anyway... I don't even remember where, but it's not Galbadia."

Irvine scratched his head. "Laguna didn't have one...well... slightly..."

"Tch, can we not talk about this crap? I'm bored," Zell said, crossing his arms. "We should talk about something cool... like... guns, for that matter!"

"Now your speakin' my language!" Irvine proclaimed, pointing at the blond.

"NO," Rinoa cut in, holding her hands up. "Not all of us like guns..."

"..." said Squall.

"C'mon, you're a girl, y'don't count," Irvine remarked lazily. Suddenly, a shoe came flying at him, which bounced off his head and fell to the ground. "Aw, DAMMIT! What was that for?!" He rubbed his head.

"That's my shoe, you know," Zell complained, glowering at Rinoa, who just looked at him and giggled.

Squall looked away._(Idiots...)_

The fun died down, and the four of them were left in silence. "Yeah," Irvine chimed in boredly to no one in particular. "So like..." All of a sudden, he thought of something. "Hey, you guys know what's up with Selphie?"

Squall's head perked up at the sound of her name. "What do you mean?" he asked. "There's something going on with Selphie?"

Rinoa glanced at him and stifled a giggle.

He scowled. "What?"

Zell and Irvine didn't get it, either. "Well," Irvine went on, scratching the back of his neck, "I think she's tryin' to avoid me. We don't hang out anymore... in fact," he narrowed his eyes at Squall. "She's been spendin' a LOT of time with you, Commander..."

Squall blinked. He couldn't tell whether the cowboy was being serious or was just joking around. "So? I give her a lot of SeeD business to take care of..."

"Uh, yeah right," Rinoa teased, "that's not entirely true."

"Well, it was all coincidence. I just happened to be there." He crossed his arms in defense. He didn't want Irvine or Zell to know how he really felt about her. Not yet. Not until Irvine was completely out of the picture... only Rinoa knew and he planned to keep it that way, even if he preferred she didn't, either.

Irvine looked at him funny. "I've actually noticed that she's happy when you and she talk. Happier than she's been with me lately... oh, did I ever tell you guys?"

Rinoa and Zell shook their heads.

"She told me she liked me," the cowboy continued lowering his violet eyes to the floor, "This was like, ages ago, and it was a given we'd keep it on the down low, but I guess it doesn't matter..."

"And obviously, you said you didn't like her back," Rinoa replied.

"Yeah."

Rinoa started thinking of her own predicament with Zell. She glanced down at him out of the corner of her eye. She could tell he was trying not to be interested in the conversation, but she knew he cared about what was going on with his friends as much as she did._(What if I told Zell how I felt...?)_

_"_Does... Sefie not like me at all or somethin'?" Irvine asked. He looked a little sad.

"No," Squall answered easily. "She's just disappointed. And hurt. She's trying to avoid you because it still kind of hurts her..."

Irvine sighed. "I wish she would get over this. She's starting to put too much drama into the situation... I want my best friend, not some lovesick idiot." He stood up. "I better head to bed. G'night."

___(I wish you'd stop being such a flirtatious jerk,)_ Squall wanted to say, but didn't. He was the quiet, indifferent one. He shouldn't speak so much. He shouldn't care so much.

Even though spending time with Selphie changed some of that.

Everyone muttered their goodbyes to Irvine and he was gone.

Right afterward, Rinoa shot Squall a look. "You must be sleepy, Squall..." she said pointedly, trying to get the message across that she wanted some quality chicken-wuss time alone.

He smirked inwardly. "Actually, I feel just fine," Squall responded.

She tried not to get mad at him. "No, you must be... since you have lots of commander things to do in the morning," She replied hesitantly.

"Tomorrow's Sunday," Zell spoke up. "No one does anything on a Sunday."

"Except maybe Squall," she added, her words more emphasized. She narrowed her coffee-colored eyes at her ex-boyfriend, knowing that he got what she was saying.

"I don't do anything on Sundays," he said coolly, messing with Rinoa even further. Amused, he could see Rinoa struggling to keep her anger under control.

Zell stood up. "Choose something, Squall. Stay or go." He started shadowboxing.

Rinoa suddenly kicked Squall pretty hard... in the same place where Zell had earlier.

"Oops! Reflex!" she exclaimed in feigned apology, putting her hands to her mouth.

Zell stared at Rinoa, bewildered. "Some reflex!"

She loved how Zell was so dim he wouldn't be too suspicious of things like this.

Squall's hands immediately went to his already bruising thigh. (DAMNDAMNFUCKSHITOWWW!!) was his initial reaction, but all Squall let out was a grunt as he tried not to grimace. ___(Damn Rinoa...)_ "Fine..." he said in a strained voice. He struggled to the door, wanting so badly to scream his pain. "Good night," he muttered indifferently as the door slid shut behind him.

"Zell, you can stop that now," she told the blond, watching as he continued shadowboxing as if there was no tomorrow.

He stopped and turned to her, a grin spreading across his face. "You know," he said, scratching the back of his neck, "I could use an opponent to face me right now."

Rinoa almost jumped up and down in joy. She and Zell were gonna have FUN! She stood up from the bed and faced him with a determined but playful glare on her face.

"Show me what you got, Angelcake!" Zell stood in fighting stance, teasing her.

"Angelcake, huh?" Rinoa replied as she clenched her fists and punched. Zell blocked her easily, grabbing her fist with his hand. She tried to pull it back, but he held on, smiling all the while.

"You're definitely not Zell fighter potential," he smirked.

She slapped his arm with her free hand. "Meanie!" she cried.

"At least you don't call me Chicken-wuss," he replied, letting go of her wrist. Rinoa took this opportunity to poke him in the stomach. Zell jumped away. "Yo!" he cried indignantly. He rubbed his stomach. "That hurt..." He play-punched her in the gut. She dodged it, laughing.

"Wow, you know... Squall has a different reaction if you poke him," she said matter-of-factly.

Zell looked at her curiously. "Mr. Commander does now? How so?" He made another attempt to "punch" her again, but she jumped away again.

Rinoa kicked his foot teasingly. "He's really ticklish. As in... REALLY ticklish."

Zell had a mischievous grin on his face. "Tch, Squall laughing is the funniest sight in the world!" Suddenly thinking of what he talked about with Squall, he stopped smiling and gave her a puzzled look. "So you really broke up with Squall?" He put his hands down. "I mean... after everything... well,... he meant a lot to you, ya know?"

Rinoa put her hands behind her back, looking down. She began making circles with her foot. It was something she often did when she was either nervous, bashful, or when she felt awkward about something. "Well... I did at the time... I thought so... but the romance was too dreamy, don't you think?" She looked up at Zell._(I guess I should take the opportunity to tell Zell how I feel about him...)_

"Dreamy?" he looked like he didn't know what that meant. "So... you..."

"I loved him... but... I think in my head, I imagined what this relationship was like ideally... but seeing him... compared to this other person..." She crept close to Zell. "The physical attraction I had for person number two was... real, almost frighteningly real."

Zell narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "Do I know this person?"

"Yeah," she smiled cryptically. "Yeah, you do." She stepped even closer to Zell, who didn't notice a thing. "We had good chemistry... great chemistry, in fact. I wanted to spend as much time with this person as possible..."

"Who is it?"

Rinoa looked at him shyly, trying to keep herself from blushing. "Guess..."

"Seifer."

She crinkled her nose. "No. We are both... WAY over each other."

"... Raijin? Nah, you don't hang out with him too often, I don't think..."

"No, we don't..."

Zell grinned. "I got it!"

"Who?!" She jumped in anticipation. (Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!)

"Irvine!"

Rinoa restrained herself from hitting him on the head with a nearby heavy object. "HELL NO! I wouldn't want to risk being cheated on!" She giggled quietly to herself._(Zell... I wish you'd get a clue...)_

Zell started wandering around the room. "Don't tell me! I'll get it, I know I will!" He crossed his arms, musing to himself. Rinoa stood there, rolling her eyes. ___(Maybe this should wait, after all.)_

"Say..." Rinoa's head perked up. Zell looked as if he realized something. "You're not a lesbian, are you, Rinny?" He had a funny smile on his face. "You don't have a thing for your roommate, do you? Even though it would be all right if--"

"WHAT?!" Rinoa screamed. She took one the pillows off his bed and ran over and started beating him over the head with it all in a matter of seconds.

"WHAT? What did I say?!" Zell protested, shielding himself with his arms.

Rinoa calmed herself down and tossed her fluffy weapon aside. "No, Zell, I'm straight. Straight as straight can be..."

"..." He looked lost.

An inscrutable smile appeared on her face. "Wouldn't it help if I gave you a biiig hint?"

He nodded. "Sure thing, Rin... but don't give it away!"

"Well... come closer and I'll tell you," she said.

"Why? No one can hear you if you--" Zell began saying.

"Someone could be spying on us," she pointed out. "And they'll get the hint right away!"

"You're saying I'm slow??"

She swatted him on the shoulder. "ZELL!"

"Okay! Geez!"

"Now come closer... someone might be listening at the door--"

"Tch, like who? Selphie or Irvine?" Rinoa only looked at him. "Oh, right." Zell took a couple steps forward, so that now he was only inches away from his friend. "So..."

One thing he noticed was that her face was getting closer and closer to his. Her head tilted slowly as she closed her eyes...

___(Oh, Hyne...)_ Zell froze. That could mean only one thing...

He felt her soft lips touch his innocently. The blond couldn't move. He could barely register what was happening, not even when she parted from him a few seconds later, watching him carefully. "Zell..."

___(It was me! Holy Hyne, she likes me!)_ Perhaps he should be elated. Rinoa was beautiful, friendly, and generous, but he inwardly wanted the kiss erased from his memory.

"Me," he spoke up hoarsely, still looking dazed.

"Yes..." She was starting to sound disappointed, and Zell realized that he had put that disappointment there. He was breaking a girl's heart. AGAIN.

"Rinoa... um..." Zell stared at the ground for a second before turning to her again... her and her warm brown eyes. Looking into them, Zell feeling bad for her, and no matter how much he wished he felt the same way, he just couldn't see himself with her.

"You don't..." Rinoa backed away.

"I... just can't... Rinoa..." Zell muttered awkwardly. "I'm... sorry..." He grabbed her wrist. "We'll stay friends, right?"

Smiling, she replied, "Yeah... yeah, of course, Zell." She took her wrist from his grasp and headed out his room and to the main door of his dorm. "I'll see you later!"

Zell nodded, feeling guilty. "Yeah." He turned toward his desk, avoiding seeing her sad because of him.

The door hissed open, indicating her leave. After a few more seconds, it hissed again, this time closed, indicating that Zell would realize he had another weight hanging on his shoulders.

* * *

It was late November. Irvine's birthday had passed, and now was happy at the age of eighteen. His party, which took place that weekend in a popular restaurant/club in Deling City called Crimson Fox (his favorite place). A lot of dancing, a lot of food, a lot of presents... and Irvine's favorite, a lot of girls. Needless to say, it was pretty wild, to Selphie (only because the cowboy was surrounded by "wild" girls), Fujin, Squall, and Quistis' dismay. Rinoa and Zell didn't interact much and Seifer managed to convince Selphie and Quistis each for a dance, while Raijin disappeared into the club, to who-knows-where. It was a quite different environment from Quistis' party a month earlier for her birthday, which consisted of Selphie renting out the ballroom and decorating it (with the help of the others) to suit the blonde SeeD's taste and having her closest friends and some of the other resident in the Garden come and party the night away.

But anyway...

Selphie never remembered a time this year when she had felt any happier. She decided that this year's festival was going to be an opera and she's going to change it up a bit. Instead of it sounding like a real opera, she's going to put a rock/contemporary feel into the play, especially since she didn't know many people who could sing opera-style. Plus, there will be an after-party to end all after-parties.

She finally got people to help her, who turned out to be her main circle of friends (this was after much begging and much complaining on how she was becoming too weak from doing everything by herself) and a few others like Nida, Xu, and even snobby ol' Firion.

___(Am I a genius or what?)_ Selphie told herself as she examined the nearly empty set, which would turn into a beautiful medieval setting later. She was surprised that Zell had volunteered to play bass for the band. Irvine was set for piano, and some transfer from Trabia said he played a little guitar.

She had most of the casting down, but she had trouble finding a good lead girl. She thought Rinoa would be good for Maria, but that included the major singing part and the sorceress said she couldn't sing worth beans, even though her mother was a famous vocalist. Selphie then thought about Quistis, only to find out that Quistis hated singing. The brunette frowned. She held auditions, but none of them had good voices... unless she casted herself, which would be hard if she was organizing everything at the same time. She would have to practice that song until perfection, and Selphie was nitpicky in the arts department. But oh, well. She can handle work.

Now who would play Draco, Ralse, and and the other minor parts? Selphie had to think about that one. There were some good actors at the auditions, but none of them seemed to fit... Seifer said he would refuse to play Ralse for obvious reasons, so he was out...

"Hi."

She snapped out of her thoughts and turned to find Seifer there. "Hi!" She was so happy he joined. Before, he had been so adamant about it.

"You're the first one here! Now you can paint set pieces!!" she cheered, dragging him to a table where the materials were. "I have the plan for it right here, too!"

"Right..." Her peppiness was scary. "But actually, Sef... I need to talk to you. We'll paint later."

Selphie blinked up at him._(Oh... THAT talk...)_ "Uh... how long will it take?"

He looked around him, making sure no one else was around. "It shouldn't take that long, but... " he averted his gaze. "That depends on me, actually..."_(And how much of a chicken I turn out to be.)_

_"_Okay."

"..."

"...?"

"Let's sit," Seifer said, sitting down in a stray chair by the table. The was another one, and he gestured for her to sit in it. She did so. He scooted toward her so that they were a close proximity. Seifer sighed and finally looked at her in the eye. "As hard as it must be for you, I want you to not say anything until I'm completely through, all right?"

Selphie looked at him warily and nodded. "Okay, Sei Sei."

Quistis walked down one of the many sets of stairs in the Quad, on her way to see Selphie. She really didn't want to join the committee since there was a lack of free time for her as it is, especially with major assignments she would have to grade thoroughly coming up. The middle of the school year was her least favorite part teaching-wise.

She found Squall ahead of her, trudging as if he were going to hell. "Not excited?" she called. It's been a while since she spent time with her former pupil. She caught up and walked alongside him.

He looked at her. "Whatever. I don't care." He ran a hand through his hair and kept walking.

She smiled. "Or maybe you decided to join so you could be around Selphie more. You're so warm around her. You're cold to everyone else. I wonder why."

He shot her a venomous look.

"What?" she protested, laughing slightly. "Don't you remember how easy it was for me to read your emotions? I know you, you dolt."

"I'm not a dolt." Squall glared at her. "It can't be that easy to tell how I feel... I'm a hard person to understand."

"You're talking to the expert, Squall. The expert."

"Whatever." "Whatever."

He threw another angry glance at her. They had said it at the same time.

"Don't do that." "Don't do that."

It happened again. Squall shook his head and kept walking, ignoring Quistis' snickers.

Seifer took a deep breath. "Sefie, I don't know how it happened... I mean, this is fucked up if you think about it... well, at least in my opinion, anyway." He cleared his throat and looked down.

She looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

He felt his heart pounding loudly in his ear. "I guess... I'm trying to say-- well, I-- oh, hell, Sefie..." He leaned forward and grabbed her chin with one of his hands, his jade eyes catching hers fiercely. "I'm doing this for real this time."

"Sei--"

His lips met hers in a surprisingly gentle kiss. Selphie's eyes widened._(Seifer...?)_ She couldn't do this. She only thought of him as a friend... nothing more. She started to pull away.

But damn he was a good kisser.

* * *

"Will you stop laughing at me?" Squall growled over his shoulder. The instructor was walking a few feet behind him, looking at him in mirth. "That's all I ever get from you or Rinoa or Selphie these days... hell, and Seifer too." He was about to go down the ramp, but froze, his expression conveying total astonishment.

Selphie and Seifer, kissing.

___(Actually...)_

A little relief came to him. Selphie wasn't into it. She looked like she was trying to pull away from him.

Squall was about to yell at Seifer to quit it, but he saw her give in. He watched as she closed her eyes and rested her hands on the crook of each of his arms, leaning into the kiss.

Quistis met up with him at the top of the ramp. She looked at his expression cautiously. "What's wrong?"

A flash of pain went through his eyes and he stormed away, ignoring the blonde's questions. She stared after him a moment and turned to see what was so shocking.

She gasped. Seifer kissing Selphie... Selphie kissing Seifer... either way, she was upset. Quistis grabbed onto the railing, her legs beginning to give away. She put a hand to her forehead. She didn't think she'd be so horrified by this scene. She knew she liked Seifer, but she never knew how much until now.

The couple finally parted, each panting to catch their breath.

___(I'm sure they enjoyed themselves,)_ Quistis grumbled in her head. "Damn you!" She spun on her heel and walked away, not meaning to say that out loud.

Seifer looked up, wondering where that voice came from. He looked toward the ramp and found Quistis stomping away, meaning...

She saw him and Selphie kissing. But he was free to do so, wasn't he? He wasn't with Quistis or anything. But still, he felt like he should go after her, but his feet were rooted to the ground. He looked at Selphie, who just stared at him, stupefied.

"Sefie?" he asked, trying to break her out of her reveries. He stood up from the chair. He needed to know how this brunette felt... but for some reason, his thoughts weren't of his amazing kiss with Selphie. They were of how he had somehow upset Quistis. He still liked Selphie, yes, but something told him that he needed to see Quistis.

"Seifer," she murmured, standing up. She touched her lips, her bangs hiding her face. The cadet stared at her, looking like he was trying to figure something out. He had no idea how she was feeling.

She didn't say anything else. Instead, she sprinted from the stage area and out of the Quad.

Seifer watched her as she left and slumped back into the chair, completely lost.

* * *

___(Oh Hyne, oh Hyne, oh Hyne!)_ Selphie screamed in her mind as she ran through the main halls. (Seifer kissed me! And I kissed him!) She felt ashamed. She wanted to push him away and tell him she didn't see him in that way, but instead, she kissed him back. Why?! And in front of Quistis, too. And seeing, or rather, hearing, the blonde's reaction to it, she knew that the instructor probably hated her now or something. Although she couldn't figure out why Quistis was so angry, she needed to tell her that the kiss was a mistake she accidently got caught up in. And Irvy! She was...

She realized something. She didn't even think about Irvine... whoa...

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't notice that there was a person slowly walking in front of her. She crashed into him/her from behind, reeling back from the impact. "Ah! Sorry!" she apologized. She looked straight out in front of her.

Black leather. Whitish fur up above.

"Squall!" she exclaimed, a smile returning to her face.

He craned his neck slightly to look at her, scowling. "..."

"Squall--"

Not answering her, he walked off.

Selphie stared at him for a second, wondering why he was so mad. "Hey," she called lightly. "Squall!" He didn't respond. He just kept going.

Slightly hurt at his lack of response, she decided to jog after him. He usually told her everything. He was usually actually nice to her. He hasn't been cold to her since... well, a long time ago.

She grabbed onto the back of his white shirt, tugging it to make him stop. And he did, unwillingly. "Hey... did I do something wrong?" she questioned softly. "Are you mad at me?"

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, pretending that her beautiful, apologetic eyes didn't affect him in the slightest. "..."

"Squall? What did I do?" She smiled innocently... cluelessly. "What's wrong?"

He averted his eyes to the ground in front of him. "It's no big deal."

"It is to me. You mean so much to me," she told him in a serious manner. "I want to be there for you like you've been for me."

"Whatever." He would have left if she didn't have such a tight grasp on his shirt. "Go have fun with your new boyfriend."

Then it hit her. "You saw us, too..." she whispered. Selphie didn't see Squall there at the Quad, but somehow, he knew. She frowned for a second. "Then... why would it make you this angry at me?"

"..." ___(First Irvine, and now that damn Almasy. Hell...)_

"Squall?"_(Say something!)_ she pleaded silently.

"..."

She narrowed her eyes at his back. "You know, I'm sick of trying to read your mind, Commander!" she fumed. "I want you to say something, you hear me? Tell me whatever's on your mind!" Her anger went away as quickly as it came. She didn't get seriously mad often and didn't like it when that happened.

After a long pause, Squall murmured to the floor, "What if I told you that I have fallen in love with you?"

Shocked as shocked can be, Selphie slowly let go of the hem of his white shirt and backed away slightly, her eyes wide. ___(In love with me?! Is he for real?!)_ She knew he wouldn't kid about love. He took it seriously, like she did. And for him to actually say something like that was not something he would do unless he meant it.

___(Then... he really does,)_ she realized. She knew all the hints. She had for a while, but she didn't see it as... love. She thought he was just being nice. When he blushed, she thought he was just embarrassed. When he almost kissed her, she thought he just got caught up in the moment. She sure did.

Squall slowly turned to look at her square in the eye. Suddenly, Selphie saw all the unadulterated love in his eyes that she had ignored in the past. The troubled storm in his blue-grey orbs had disappeared, leaving only the pure emotion he saved for her.

Shock. Bafflement. Stupefication. She was completely unable to think of something to reply with.

He smiled ruefully. Odd, he would never outright confess something like that to anybody, but he found that he could say anything to Selphie. He didn't need to hold anything back around her. He knew he should have kept his feelings to himself, but the feeling in his heart overpowered the restriction in his mind.

Minutes have passed and still the girl couldn't think of anything to say. Squall, feeling his heart start to sink, took it as a sign to leave. He closed his eyes briefly. "Sorry," he mumbled, turning to walk away. Again.

Selphie snapped out of it, realizing he was leaving yet again. She watched him for a while, trying to figure out how she felt about him.

All she could think about was the way he looked at her. He loved her. Love was a strong word. She could feel her heart beating fast, thinking of what he said to her over and over again. Selphie stood there, her eyes closed for a second.

___(... Squall...)_

Selphie couldn't explain what was going on with her unpredictable heart.

___(I need to talk to him, but what to I say? He probably doesn't want to talk to me again!... And yet... I still... I don't know, I can't figure this out...)_

By the time she had enough brain to call the commander back, he was gone.

* * *

Squall lay there in his bed, still in his day clothes, staring up at the ceiling, musing about Selphie. He only had his lamplight on, which wasn't too bright. He wasn't tired, but he didn't want to get up and have to be forced to face someone he knew for some matter he didn't really care about.

___(Why did I tell her? Can't I keep things to myself around her anymore? I knew I was going to get rejected... just like every other person who bothered to confess some love crap to another...)_

_H_e rolled over, turning to his side so that he faced the wall. ___(Selphie... Sefie...)_ He was about to close his eyes when the intercom crackled to life (there was one in each room).

"Zell Dincht, Selphie Tilmitt, and Squall Leonhart to the headmaster's office, please," rang Quistis' voice. "I repeat, Dincht, Tilmitt, and Leonhart to the headmaster's office. Thank you."

___(Damn. I don't want to... see HER.)_ Groaning, Squall rolled out of bed, grabbing his Lionheart just in case. He fiddled with his hair, making sure nothing was out of place and shoved his feet into his boots as he headed out the door.

* * *

Selphie, Zell, Quistis, Cid, and Xu (who was in plain clothes for once, brownish sneakers sans socks, a black, knee-length skirt and brown tank top, with a long (it hit her knees) black vest with a hood over the outfit) looked up as Squall entered the office from the elevator. He greeted Zell, Quistis, Cid, and Xu, ignoring Selphie altogether. The Trabian looked like she was about to say something to him, but thought better of it.

"Squall," Cid began. "You are in charge of this mission." He handed the SeeD a file. "I'm sorry to give you a commanding position when it's you're time off, but I really need our best SeeDs for this job. I would have summoned Nida and Firion, but they are on another mission at the moment."

"What are we doing?" Xu asked.

Cid sighed. "Well, there is a problem in Galbadian Continent. Each city's computer programs have all crashed, and they all came with a message that REVOLUTION will take over. I had just received word that there was a massacre at Timber."

Selphie gasped. "A massacre?"

He nodded. "The casualties aren't big, but we can't afford something like this. All of you will be scouting Timber, then Winhill, and then the capital. Galbadia Garden is on lockdown, meaning no one can come out nor come in, so there will be no help from there."

"How about the Galbadian soldiers?" Quistis asked.

Zell snorted. "They're too weak. I mean, have you talked to Seifer, Fujin, or Irvine about the day of the explosion? They're hell of a lot stronger than those damn soldiers but lost to the terrorists."

"That is true," Cid agreed. He cleared his throat. "You will be taking the Ragnarok to Galbadia and then traveling on trains in between the cities: Deling and Winhill. We don't want to be too obvious, although some of you may easily be recognized. At each city, with the exception of Timber, you will find a plainsclothes official you will report to. In Timber, you will find the official at the side entrance by the weapons shop. Don't kill those terrorists. We want them alive and brought to the prison in the outskirts of the capital."

Squall opened the manila folder he received, skimming through it.

"The rest is up to you, Commander," Cid said. "I suggest all of you equip and pack whatever you need, and then leave as soon as possible."

The SeeDs saluted briefly and left.

Squall frowned at the files and handed the folder to Xu. There were more of those REVOLUTION terrorists than he thought. There were twenty-nine profiles in the folder, but there could be a lot more. When and where the heck did they spring up? How long have they been around?

"What is your plan, Commander?" Xu questioned authoritatively. The five of them took (more accurately, squished into) the elevator to the first floor and started walking to the directory.

Squall thought about it for a second_(Why does everything have to depend on me?)_ "Well... I think we scout Timber together first, because we don't know how tough it will be. If we think it's all right, we'll split up to go to the other cities. We might need to check on Dollet too, just in case. Since it's on the same continent and all."

"Okay!" exclaimed Selphie.

"Sounds fine to me," Zell spoke up. "Let's go!" He started heading to the front doors.

Squall rolled his eyes and turned to the others. "Everyone ready, then? You don't need to get anything?"

All of them shook their heads.

"Let's move out." The SeeDs caught up to Zell and together, they left.

* * *

"I'm not driving," Selphie chimed in as they boarded the Ragnarok.

Zell stared at her. That was a first. "Why not?" he asked.

"I... really need to talk... to people," she said meekly, referring to Quistis and Squall. She clapped her hands together and stared up at Zell with adorable begging puppy eyes. "Zell... I know you only drive if you super-duper-positively have to, but can you do it for me?? Pleeeease?"

He glanced at Squall and Quistis, who both entered the seating area with Xu. "Why do you need to talk to them so bad?" Zell questioned. He and the brunette got onto the lift, both going up to the cockpit.

"As if I'd tell you!" she exclaimed. "I don't hear you confiding in me about anything! So why should I tell you, Chicken-wuss?" She crossed her arms and looked away. She meant it as a joke, but...

"If you keep that damn attitude up, I won't fly the Ragnarok," he told her angrily as they landed on the cockpit area.. "I'm NOT a chicken-wuss, dammit!!" He noticed she didn't respond. "Besides, I don't trust you enough to tell you a damn thing," he went on. "I can't confide in you like... some other people. You're loud and obnoxious an--"

"Hey! That's not cool!" she cried, switching moods. "You can't talk to me?" She stomped her foot. She didn't want it to, but it hurt her feelings that Zell would just outright say he didn't trust her. She also didn't want to get angry. She was Selphie, happy-go-lucky Selphie Tilmitt. "I'm SO not loud and obnoxious!"

So much for happy-go-lucky. Selphie frowned at him. "Zell, I was joking about--!"

"You're being annoying right now!" he argued. "Even if you were kidding around, you still friggin' are!"

"Speak for yourself, CHICKEN-WUSS! Geez!"

"What's going on?" Squall came up into the cockpit, looking impatient. "We don't hav--"

"So when I thought you were my friend," she went on, she and the T-boarder both ignoring Squall's presence, "it turns out that you actually don't care?!"

"I didn't say that, you idiot! I said I didn't trust you!"

"Hey--" the commander began.

"But if I'm your friend, why can't you trust me?!" Selphie yelled. "Do you seriously not trust me?!"

"Shit, Selphie, it's not a big deal!" Zell shook his head.

"I think it is!"

"HEY."

Zell and Selphie turned toward the direction of the sudden outburst. Commander Leonhart was glaring at them angrily. "What the hell is taking so long?!" he questioned restlessly. "We don't have time to sit around and argue over unimportant matters! Get the Ragnarok moving!"

Selphie glared at Zell. "Tell HIM to drive," she muttered bitterly to Squall as she entered the platform and went down. When she left, the Lion faced his blond friend warily. "What was that?" he asked.

"That idiot Selphie..." was all Zell said as he plopped himself in the driver's seat. He started messing with the controls, turning the engine of the vehicle on.

"What did you do to her?"

Zell turned around lividly. "I didn't friggin' do anything! She wanted me to friggin' drive this damn thing so she could talk to you and Quistis about... something. Tch, I don't know." He turned back to the controls. The Ragnarok began moving, driving forward. "She got mad over stupid shit."

Squall raised an eyebrow. "Talk to me? And Quistis?"

"Go ask her yourself... Wait, let me lift off first."

Squall grabbed on to the back of Zell's chair tightly as the airship ascended into the sky. When things with that were settled and stable, the commander took the platform lift down and went to the seating room, where Quistis and Xu were having a conversation. He stopped at the doorway and looked around the room for Selphie, and was slightly disappointed she wasn't there. He was afraid to go and find her, because of what happened earlier that day, but still, Squall wanted to know what Zell said or did to make her upset, and if she was okay.

___(Sefie...)_ Squall put his hand to his forehead, thinking about her. ___(I want to know how you feel...)_ He thought of her kiss with Seifer. Her talking fondly about Irvine. His blood boiled and his heart ached._(I wish... that you... loved me.)_

After stalling for a brief second, he turned around and went to search for Selphie.

___(Because I can't stay away anymore.)_

* * *

**A/N:**_Don't mind the bad spelling and grammar in the chatroom scene. A lot of people don't type properly online, so I was just portraying that. Oh, and omfh: oh my fucking hyne; omh: oh my hyne; and stfu: shut the fuck up._

**REVIEWS, REVIEWS, WHAT-WHAT, THE REVIEWS**

**Kitty, queen of the leprechaun:** It's always fun to be random.

**Reno Loire:** Yeah... the cusp thing, I remember that. ; I guess my books are newer, I don't know. Heehee, yup Squall almost kissed Selphie. And there's more to come, hinthint.

**Grasshopper2:** W00t, love triangles!

**MissDrucilla:** Thanx for adding me to your favorites!! XD Selphie's my fav. in the entire series too!! XD

**rikku-chan:** Wow, it's flattering that you still read this Squelphie even though you don't approve of the pairing. Thanks!!


	7. VI: Can't Stop This Feeling

**A/N:** _I can't remember exactly where everything is in any of the towns... I only know some details of Timber because I looked through an FF8 strategy guide at Waldenbooks... ;;... I also added some things to the town so that it would seem more realistic. Also, I'm not good with describing action sequences, so have mercy. Bear with me..._

_Oh, does Xu have a last name? I didn't think she did, so I made one up... _

_Now I will reinstate the disclaimer... which will go for future chapters as well:_

**DISCLAIMER:** Final Fantasy VIII or the rest of the franchise does not belong to me. The FF games belong to Squaresoft, etc. I don't endorse FF... they have nothing to do with me... all I got here is a little story I made up. The lyrics to Anggun's "Snow on the Sahara" aren't mine, either. There.

* * *

**Maybe It Could Work  
by: Elcyion Pitye**

* * *

**VI. Can't Stop This Feeling**

_  
Only tell me that you still want me here  
When you wander off out there.  
To those hills of dust and hard winds that blow  
In that dry white ocean alone._

Selphie sat in the corner of the hangar, humming to herself. She had her knees drawn up to her chest with her arms folded and resting on them. She came up with a little melody a long time ago, when she first put the Ragnarok into flight. For some reason, it got stuck in her head and the song became what she considered the Ragnarok's theme song. She couldn't imagine the tune belonging to anything else.

She heard footsteps coming her way, but she ignored them, trying to keep happy thoughts in her mind. Unsuccessfully. It lasted for a while, but knowing someone was somewhere near her, someone who probably didn't like her either...

"Selphie."

_(Not listening, not listening...)_ she chanted in her head, burying her face in her arms. If Zell thought she was loud, obnoxious and untrustworthy, then who knows what Squall might think of her now--

_(Squall!)_ Her heart leaped, realizing that it was _his_ voice. He was there! With one eye peeking out of her arms, she looked up at her intruder. He was wearing a trademark scowl and looking down at her with an unreadable expression on his face.

_(It feels weird... he told me he loved me... and then he just disappeared. Maybe he thought I didn't like him or something... I don't know what I'm feeling... but... it's far from not liking him. He's a great person deep down inside. Oh, Squall...)_ Her thoughts were a mess.

He squatted down and stared at her more closely, almost wary of her but at the same time concerned. Selphie lifted her head. "Um," she started. She smiled. "I... need to talk to you and--"

"I know," he muttered. "Zell told me. Sort of."

Suddenly the Ragnarok landed, very shakily and very turbulently. Squall fell forward, landing on Selphie, who at the same time fell over to her side and slid onto her back due to the slippery floors. Maybe she should've driven after all. "Are you okay?" she asked him. Neither of them moved. Squall was lying on top of her, his face a few inches above hers. This was definitely an awkward position, but Selphie had the strongest urge to kiss him instead of push him off.

_(... What? Where did that come from? Maybe I've been around him too much... haha, that must be it.)_

"..." He blushed slightly and furrowed his brows, as if thinking about something. With a gloved hand, he brushed a bang out of her eye. Selphie flushed. She never felt like... like, well, she didn't even know what it was, but she never felt it around Irvine, but she kind of liked this feeling Squall gave her.

The floor beneath the hangar opened. Squall immediately got off of Selphie, who sat up to watch as the ramp formed. Silently, they both stood up.

Quistis, Zell, and Xu jogged to the hangar.

"Sorry about Zell's bad landing...are you ready?" Quistis asked them. Zell scowled behind her.

"Yes," said Squall.

Selphie merely nodded, still feeling odd around the instructor.

Squall led the way out into the open fields. The five of them ran the rest of the way to Timber. Fortunately, Zell hadn't landed the air ship too far away within a forest _(that probably killed a few things...)_.

Upon arriving, they found a man standing by the entrance, looking around him as if he were waiting for someone. "I recognize him," Xu spoke up. "He's the official we're looking for."

At that moment, the man looked to them and nodded, recognizing them. The SeeDs went up to him and exchanged information. Afterward, the SeeDs decided to split up to scout the city.

Squall eyed the people with him. "Quistis, go with Zell... Selphie..."

She looked up. She half-expected him to not choose her because of the events at Garden that day...

"... you're with me."

She beamed. "Booyaka!"

Zell rolled his eyes. Xu smirked. Quistis didn't really react.

"Xu, can you handle this by yourself?" Squall asked the eldest SeeD, his second-in-command.

She nodded tersely. "Of course."

"Fine, then Quistis, Zell, you guys go past the pub stairs and into the tunnels to the main platforms. Xu, you stay around this entire area where Timber Maniacs and the hotel are. Selphie and I will take the area by the pet and souvenir shops and the pub. There're residential areas near all our posts, so we should check those, too."

The group split up and went to their designated areas.

* * *

The train stops were very crowded. This was surprising, especially since the explosion at Balamb didn't happen that long ago. People seemed to be desperate to get out of Timber because of the massacres. Some were crying, some frantic, and the others just looked numb.

Xu pushed through the train crowds, trying to find where the massacre took place. She had no idea so many people lived in Timber... A strong scent of blood still hung in the air, so she knew it was around ther somewhere.

She finally arrived at the scene of the crime. There were noticeable holes in the walls of shops and the hotel with several shards of glass lying around dangerously. Some locals and some Galbadian soldiers were kneeling over some bloodied bodies on the floor. Mutilated, with sticky red holes all over their flesh. Some of the bodies were messed up so badly that figuring out the identities would be impossible. There was maybe seven on the ground and about eight more on stretchers by the nearby ambulances. Blood was splattered on the cement like a gory painting.

She stifled her gasp of shock as she turned to one of the soldiers. "Second Commanding Officer Xu Ai-Lee of SeeD," she said articulately, saluting.

The soldier stood up and faced her with a salute. "These civilians are dead."

She narrowed her eyes down at the corpses. "How did this happen?"

"It's been reported that three people," he began, "were walking amidst the crowd. Suddenly, machine guns were heard, and approximately fifteen people went down, with many minor injuries. That caused disorder among the public, inside and out. These shooters had disappeared amongst the crowd, and the city was too chaotic at the time to get a clear description. We assume that the weapons were concealed right after the massacre."

Xu burned that into her memory. She put her fingers on her chin. "What else?"

"Witnesses to these shootings have told us that there were four of them, and they varied in appearance. One was a red-haired woman, one was blonde woman, one was a raven-haired male, and the other was a male with dark brown hair."

"Catch names?"

"None. But they were recognizable due to the chains they wore across their chests and backs."

Xu thought about it for a second. "Then... how could they have escaped? So many witnesses... none attempted to catch them."

"Well, Miss Ai-Lee, these _were_ civilians we were dealing with," the soldier replied. "They would be too scared to even look at these terrorists. They'd be too busy saving their own selves, like now."

She nodded, getting the point. She turned and searched around her, in case she might find some suspicious characters noted in the file she and the others received from Cid. She thanked the soldier for his information and jogged further into the city, occasionally bumping into civilians.

She stopped in the middle of a road of an already abandoned area. She looked around quickly for a sign of the terrorists. She took out her metallic black axe, the Raven-Edge, and held it in front of her for protection.

She heard shuffling from somewhere above her. It was easy to miss, due to all the trains in the town, but Xu had sharp ears. Thunder rumbled heavily from the sky. She looked up, seeing a flash of lightning strike against the grey, somber atmosphere.

Suddenly, a person leaped from one roof to another, over her head. He held a machine gun in his hand. Long black trenchcoat. Dark brown hair.

Chains.

Xu searched for the nearest road intersection, intending to follow from the ground level. She found one quickly, gripping the Raven-Edge tightly as she sprinted in the same direction as the terrorist.

* * *

Quistis and Zell split up again once they made it to the railroad tracks. Zell took that immediate area while the instructor went around to the other side. Like all the other places, it was extremely crowded. The male SeeD barely had any room to move. He watched everyone around him the best he could, but he just couldn't keep track of anybody suspicious. He stood on his tiptoes to glance at Quistis, who was pretty much in the same situation.

Zell heard the blaring sound of the train starting to come on his side. The people around him started preparing to board, standing on the edge of the platform. The conductor yelled out things, trying to keep them in order.

Unbeknownst to him (he was glancing past the crowd in the other direction), someone to his left (closer to the oncoming train) in a black pea coat, swept-up blonde hair, _chains_, and a face hidden by a black fedora, deliberately placed herself between two traveling Estharian senators. The senators, who had been in the middle of a conversation before she physically cut in, stared at her, annoyed. Without a word, she roughly grabbed their arms and threw them down onto the tracks.

Right in front of the train.

* * *

Squall sat on the steps, keeping watch while Selphie headed down to the pub area and all that was around it, upstairs and down. The steps and that part around the pet shop wasn't crowded at all due to the fact that they were stationed by the Balamb train, and of course, there wasn't one.

Selphie headed to the walkway, watching Zell and Quistis' post from above. It was longer than she originally thought. When she passed by it before, she had been running, doing some mission, so she never noticed that it went all the way to where Quistis and Zell were.

She spotted two senators she recognized from Esthar talking and waiting for the train on Zell's side. She had seen them a few times around the Presidential Palace.

She suddenly narrowed her eyes. A person in a hat, shadowing her face, stepped in between them rudely. A suspicious character. Selphie took a tentative step toward the direction of the stairs, just in case. She reached behind her back and gripped her newly upgraded nunchaku, the elaborately-designed, golden-hued Evening Glory. She didn't take it out, for there were a lot of people nearby, all evacuating Timber somehow, and she didn't want to panic anybody.

The thunder rumbled again. For once, Selphie didn't jump. She was concentrated on her suspicions. She used her peripheral vision to glance at Squall. He was still alert, his pale eyes hard.

Unfortunately, the one second she took wasn't fast enough for her to catch that hatted female pulling at the senators' arms, or to see them fall into the tracks in front of an oncoming train...

She heard blood splattering and bodies crushing. She whipped her head around to look down at the tracks. The train had stopped, but it didn't hide what she and most likely Zell and Quistis saw.

Selphie screamed.

* * *

Squall stood up quickly, hearing bloodcurdling shrieks coming from the blondes' post. He unsheathed his gunblade and ran to where the screams came from, until he saw something questionable out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head, and saw a familiar head of spiky black hair. _(Dawning,)_ he thought menacingly. The terrorist was wielding two shotguns, dangerously close to shooting somebody.

Squall decided to run after Azul in the other direction, past the Maniacs office. The terrorist spotted the commander and started running toward the other side of town.

Squall determinedly followed. They ran through streets, through people's yards, even. He was far away from Selphie and the others by now.

He cast Aura on himself as he finally appeared before the other man.

"You're coming with me," Squall said through gritted teeth. "You won't--"

"Ha, won't what, SeeD?!" he replied cockily, laughing. Appropriately, thunder crashed and it started raining heavily. He aimed his guns at the commander. "Continue this awesome shit? Tell that to the other hundred people in our group!" He shot Squall dead-on once with each gun.

"Where are they all?" Squall grunted, taking in the pain from the bullets in his stomach. He doubled over very slightly, taking in deep breaths.

"Guess."

Squall immediately summoned Ifrit, who quickly responded.

A blast of fire injured Azul severely, but with barely enough energy to fight, he performed his Limit Break, Open Range. The commander felt himself freeze in place in an upright position. He stared at his enemy, wondering what he was up to. He could only grip Lionheart uselessly as Azul aimed the guns at Squall's chest. Two white beams of magic exploded from both of the firearms and rushed at Squall, who shut his eyes from the brightness of it. The beams hit his chest hard, making him fall out of his frozen state and hit the ground on his side. Squall suddenly felt a painful burning feeling throughout his body, as if he were literally on fire.

Squall struggled to stand up, through all of his injuries. He needed to heal himself, but he knew Azul wouldn't give him that chance. The commander managed to pull himself to his feet for one second until he fell back down to one knee, his gunblade still ready in front of him.

Azul walked over to his opponent coolly, casting Slow on him. The raven-haired man easily plucked the gunblade out of Squall's feebled hands and tossed it to the side carelessly.

Squall madly told his body to respond quickly to Azul's actions, but it wasn't complying. Soon even his mind started to slow down. Squall raised an arm, as if to cast a spell, but the blue-eyed terrorist just glowered at the brunet and grabbed the front of his shirt, swiftly kneeing him in the gut. Squall grimaced, coughing for his breath back.

_(What's happening?! I'm a better fighter than this! How come this guy's Slow spells are so much more powerful than mine?!)_ Squall felt himself getting slower and slower, and it wasn't helping his situation any.

Azul, after casting Curaga on himself, threw Squall to the ground. The commander hit his head on the pavement and passed out. Azul grinned satisfactorily. "You will live to die," he said to Squall's unconscious body. "But REVOLUTION will live to rule." With that, he ran from the scene, not bothering to take the opportunity to kill him.

* * *

Selphie felt so distracted that she couldn't hear anything around her. She could only see the people running away from the bloodied train station and Quistis and Zell drawing their weapons out and looking for the culprit as if it was all muted. Selphie barely caught sight of the murderer as he/she...

Vanished into thin air?! For some reason, that was when Selphie snapped out of her horrified state. Her thoughts couldn't linger on this, she was on a mission to look for terrorists. She turned to run straight to Squall, but she found that he wasn't there. She searched all around for him. "Squall?!" she called as she felt people from downstairs roughly push past her, screaming and crying, all heading to other train platforms. Some were even traumatized enough to just walk out of town to hitchhike.

Selphie reached for her radio, but it wasn't there. She glanced down. _(NO!)_ she screamed in her mind. She looked past the people's feet to see if she had dropped it somewhere. _(Where is it?!)_

She told herself to screw it, she'll never find it, and if she did, it would be in pieces by now. She reached for her phone, but realized that she didn't have enough battery to call him.

She ran all around her post, jumping up to look over the newly-forming crowds. _(I didn't know Timber had so many people!)_ She started running just straight ahead, not really knowing where she was going. She just knew that she had to find Squall. She quickened to a sprint down a random street, looking around for a sign of her commander. "SQUALL!" she yelled as loud as she could. "SQUAAALL!!" She frowned. Maybe he couldn't hear her. She needed to run around.

_(SquallSquallSquallSquall... where are you?!)_ She told herself that he was probably fighting or somewhere else or even looking for _her_, but still, his not being there by her side was really scaring her. _(But... it wasn't always like this... what...?)_

Selphie slowed her sprint to a jog. "SQUALL!!" she yelled helplessly. She slowed to a walk and eventually stopped, leaning over to put her hands on her knees, panting. It began to rain, heavy droplets soaking her clothes and body. She stared at her surroundings. She was probably in the middle of a residential area of town. Like expected, it was barren, abandoned and bloody. REVOLUTION had really covered all their tracks. All the doors to the houses were open. Selphie spotted a melancholy-looking resident nearby who didn't seem too fazed about the hype of evacuating. She was a middle-aged red-haired woman with an umbrella who was walking into her house, closing her umbrella, and about to shut the door.

"Hey! Wait!!" Selphie screeched frantically, waving her arms about.

The woman stopped, looking back at her.

"I'm Selphie!! Selphie Tilmitt!! SeeD!!" she continued.

The woman opened the door wider, getting a better look at the brunette. A look came onto her face, as if she recognized this well-known SeeD. "Dear, you're soaked to the bone. I came out to see if there were people like you around."

_(How is she so calm about this!?)_ Selphie wondered. _(Does she not know the danger??)_ Selphie shook her head. "Never mind that! I need to find Squall... he's my commander..."

"Yes, I know who he is," the redhead replied. She pointed further down the street. "I saw him run past here, chasing a person with two guns."

Selphie suddenly had a bad feeling, worse than how she felt when she and Zell guarded Guthrie. "Thanks!!" she shouted as she sprinted down the street before the woman could say anything else.

* * *

Thunder and lightning continued to boom and flash as Zell staggered in the direction of the little cabin that contained the Owls' Tears. He forgot the name of the people who lived there, but he could care fucking less. He was weary. He was scared. Horrified. Disgusted at what he had seen. He didn't see what exactly happened, but he could guess from the carnage that was still there.

He had thrown up twice already, both on the way to the little place. He didn't bother contacting anybody via radio. He lost Quistis; he had no idea where she was now. He felt so sick... he would probably puke a fourth time. He leaned against the nearest wall for support.

He blamed himself. He hadn't been watching. He could have saved those senators.

"Fucking Hyne..." he hissed. He put a gloved hand to his forehead. "Chicken-fucking-wuss strikes again with his brilliance. Damn it all."

He found the small set of stairs and trudged up, his hand laying heavily on the railing. His blond hair was matted down from the rain, that and his unusually sober attitude making him look drastically different from the Zell who bounced around shadowboxing at Garden.

He knocked first on the door. No answer. Zell walked on into the dark, emptied place, flopping down onto the couch with a loud, tired sigh. The people must've evacuated too. He turned to the fountain, too lazy to get a drink. Zell looked back up at the ceiling, wishing the mission would just end, but he and the others still had so much to do.

* * *

Xu stopped at a large community park, able to outrun the person she was pursuing. She could see in the distance the surprised look in his eyes as he jumped down from the roof, landing perfectly and facing her without slipping on the slick surfaces.

Xu held her axe firmly and spoke first. "I am Xu, a SeeD from Balamb." Her voice was loud and commanding over the rain falling. "Who are you and what is your purpose?"

"SeeD," the guy, who had wispy espresso-colored hair that went past his ear, repeated. He pulled out an axe like her own, except his was a different model, one Xu recognized as the Twilight-of-Darkness, a dark blue axe that was just a bit more powerful than hers.

_(Didn't he have a machine gun before?)_

She cast Protect on herself, looking at him carefully. "I asked you a question. Who are you and what is your purpose? If you do not hurt me, then I will not shed your blood."

"You will live to die!" he snapped, jumping up high at amazing speed. Xu looked up, surprised. The sky was blank. Where was he!? She whirled around and found the terrorist behind her. "SeeD lives to die!" he said again, lifting his Twilight-of-Darkness above his head. Before she could regain her composure and defend herself, she felt the axe dig into her shoulder swiftly. Xu cried out in pain, tears forming in her eyes. She dropped to her knees, gripping her Raven-Edge as if it was her only source of living. Luckily, the Protect spell was still there, so she was still a valid fighter.

He lifted the axe out of her and stepped back, smiling. "SeeD... you will live to die... REVOLUTION will live to rule!" He aimed an Ultima spell at her, a dark aura surrounding him as he did so.

Barely focused, Xu stood up shakily just as the spell hit her hard, the green waves of magic pulling her body in different directions. Xu bit her lip from crying out again, not giving the terrorist the pleasure.

Xu took the time after his spell to cast Curaga. Now she was in reasonable shape. She put one foot forward, ready to charge at him. "What do you mean by that?" she asked warily.

He held his armed hand out, holding the axe sideways. A dark ambience covered him again, but Xu wasn't going to let him finish whatever spell he was about to do. She charged immediately.

* * *

Selphie slipped forward on the ground, breathing hard, falling on her hands and knees. She ignored the pain that shot up her cold, bare legs. She needed to find Squall...

She had been running nonstop for what felt like half an hour. The rain was pelting harder than ever.

_(Why am I so desperate to look for Squall? I should be thinking about the others, too... but I feel...)_

She stood back up in a sloth-like pace, continuing her trek through the rain. (... How DO I feel?...)

Selphie could now barely see in front of her, but as she kept on going, she spotted a familiar figure lying on the ground, unconscious.

"Squall!" she yelled in both relief and concern. She knelt down next to him, trying to examine his injuries through the horrible weather. His shirt was heavily blood-stained and contained a few holes. He must've been shot at. He looked like he had a head injury. She cured him immediately multiple times until he was in perfect condition, although he was still unconscious. Selphie hoped there weren't anything still left from his apparent fight.

Exhaust took over her body. She didn't mean to just leave the both of them out in this weather, but Selphie had the need to lie down next to him, so she cuddled against him, falling asleep in the rain.

Not soon after she got spirited away to Dreamland, Squall woke up, blinking as his eyes adjusted to wake. At first he couldn't figure out where he was, but his surroundings made him remember that fight with Azul. He thought he would be in pain, but surprisingly, he felt all right... numb too, but all right. Good, in fact, even if he was soaked.

He sighed, noticing it was still raining. He reached for his radio, but found that there was a large crack down the middle of it. He checked it. Definitely not working. Must have broke when he fell.

Squall turned to pull himself off the ground, but he felt something lying next to him. He looked over and he found Selphie dozing, with her head against his shoulder and arms curled up against his body. She was on her side facing him, a small grin on her face. Squall couldn't help thinking that she looked simply adorable like that.

He cursed to himself, remembering... Seifer... but he had to ignore that for now, since he needed to wake her up. They were both going to be sick from this weather.

"Selphie," he muttered firmly, nudging her with his trapped arm. He put the hand of that arm against her waist, holding her closer to him. He grew worried. _(Her body's freezing!)_ "Selphie," he said louder, his mouth closer to her ear.

The rain was starting to let up, decreasing to a regular shower. The thunder was getting further and further away, and the lightning in Timber had stopped altogether.

Finally, she woke up, looking at him sleepily. "Squall...?"

"..." He sat up, pulling her up with him. They were facing each other now, him in a cross-legged sitting position, her with her legs tucked underneath her.

Her energy suddenly came back as she threw her arms around him and jumped into his lap, her legs on either side of him. "Yay!! You're okay!!"

"Selphie..." he murmured, letting his own arms slip around her protectively, realizing how much he wanted, no, _needed_ to embrace her like this. "You feel so cold..."

"Tee-hee, you do too, silly." She laid her wet head on his wet shoulder (avoiding the fur), liking the feeling of being held by him. There was something different about being in his arms this time, but she can't put a finger to what it was.

_"What if I told you that I have fallen in love with you?"_

Selphie closed her lively orbs. _(I don't know how, but now... Irvine's not... he's not the most important person to me right now... he doesn't rule my thoughts anymore, because...I don't know...)_

She felt Squall let out a breath, relaxed. His hand was running gently through her damp hair. Somewhere inside of her, she wished they would stay like this for a long time...

And then, from out of nowhere, it hit her. She got it.

_(Then I guess... then I guess...)_

_"What if I told you that I have fallen in love with you?"_

_(... I would say to that...)_

She opened her eyes and looked up at him. She pushed at his chest so she could see him better. "Squall?"

He stopped stroking her hair and looked down at her questioningly.

Selphie touched his cheek and leaned up to his face until she was only an inch away. "Kiss me," she whispered.

Squall took in a sharp breath, more than surprised. He looked into her eyes, wondering if she was just humoring him, but he found that he only saw pools of yearning emerald green. She was serious. His heart pounded in his head. Hesitantly, he dipped his head and leaned in toward her, closing his eyes.

Their lips met softly in the now gently falling rain. Thereafter, it was like a hot current flowing through the both of them, attracting the two together in a wonderful, fiery explosion of passion.

Selphie wrapped her arms around Squall's neck tightly, deepening the kiss. Squall held on to her just as longingly. It turning more heated by the second. She sighed audibly into his mouth, leaning into him as one of his hands went down and touched her thigh slightly. After that, they parted, to catch their breaths and to keep themselves from going too far.

"Selphie..." Squall started hoarsely.

She giggled. "What is it?"

"I--" he cut himself off. "First, we need to get out of the rain before we get sick." He grabbed her hand and led her to one of the abandoned houses on the street. The door opened without a problem. Selphie looked around the simple house as Squall took off his gloves and jacket and set them on a chair nearby. He set off to find a bathroom for some dry, clean towels of some sort.

Selphie started looking at pictures in frames on the walls and sitting on tables. Squall arrived minutes later with two pale green towels, one for him and one for her.

Only his was the only thing he was wearing.

Her eyes bugged out of her sockets and her face turned red. He was bare-chested, his hair still damp but falling nicely over his eye, and he was holding up the towel that was wrapped around his waist. Along with the towel for Selphie, he was carrying his clothes in his other hand. He set them on the kitchen table nearby, laying them one-handedly over the chairs there so they could dry easier.

He looked at her afterward. "Selphie, go get out of that thing and then... we'll talk." He tossed her the unused towel. "There was nothing else for us to change into but towels, so..."

Still blushing madly, she walked to the bathroom obediently, the folded towel in front of her face, hiding her reddened cheeks.

* * *

Back at Garden, Rinoa, Seifer, Irvine, Fujin, and Raijin either stood or sat around in Cid's office, wondering why he would call them there. Cid had greeted them as they entered the room, but had to leave due to a faculty meeting and would talk to them after that was over, leaving the cadets by themselves.

"Seifer," Irvine muttered quietly in the silence.

Everybody looked toward Irvine. "What?" Seifer asked. He raised an eyebrow. The Galbadian sounded uneasy, even slightly pissed.

Irvine glared at the ex-knight. "I heard."

_(... Did he mean...?)_ "About...?"

"You. And Selphie." Irvine stood up from his chair, his gaze lowered, hiding his angry violet eyes. "Why the _fuck_ did you kiss Selphie?" He gave his friend an evil glare.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at Seifer. "You did?!" Rinoa asked incredulously.

"That's... well, ya know..." Raijin chimed in hesitantly.

"WHEN?" Fujin wondered.

"It frickin' happened today," Irvine spoke up lividly. "In the Quad."

Seifer didn't like the attitude the cowboy was giving him. "Listen, STETSON," he shot at him, standing from his chair, fighting mad. "What the hell is your problem? You don't own your best friend. She can kiss me if she wants!"

"Well, she probably didn't want to!" Irvine yelled.

Seifer smiled strangely. "Ask her yourself if that's true."

"What?!"

"She fucking kissed back, ass." _(Why am I thinking about Quistis, too?)_

"But..." Rinoa interjected. As far as she knew, Selphie liked Irvine... but with Squall _and_ Seifer in the picture, she wasn't sure anymore about this triangle anymore.

Irvine growled at him. "If you're lying to me, Almasy..."

"WAIT," Fujin interrupted. "IRVINE. NO BIG DEAL."

"It's not like you and Selphie are dating, ya know," Raijin added reassuringly.

Irvine scowled and looked to the side, away from the others. "Still..."

Rinoa almost laughed. "Still what, Irvine? You're acting like an overprotective brother or parent..." Something came to mind as she grinned uneasily. "Unless..."

Seifer shot Irvine a look, knowing what Rinoa meant. "Oh, shit, you better not." He leaned toward his friend. "If you like her too, I'll kick your cowboy ass back to Galbadia." _(Quisty, why does this upset you? Do you want me to give up on her? Is that it? Why?)_

"Seifer!" Fujin cried, "Stop! You don't mean to say that!"

He just grumbled something under his breath.

"I didn't say anythin' about that," Irvine argued, crossing his arms. "I'm the player, remember? I'm not really the type to go after a girl because I quote, "fell for her" or whatever, because I don't fall for anyone..." Something in him said otherwise, but he ignored it.

"Really?" Fujin said, not believing him. "Then why?"

"Why _what_?"

"Why the hell are you so paranoid about Selphie kissing me?!" Seifer roared, sounding fed up. "Do you have something fucking against me, Kinneas?! After becoming friends?! The orphanage posse?! What the hell is it?!" _(Sorry, Quisty... but I'm in love with Selphie still.)_

Irvine looked confused for a second. _(Why, Kinneas? Answer the question!)_ he told himself. _(Sefie... idiot Sefie who became melodramatic over falling for me... and... Seifer... no. I don't want her with him, although it would stop her from chasing me... Actually, Sefie... cute, happy-go-lucky Sefie with anyone else is... oh, shit... SHIT.)_ His eyes widened in realization as the others looked at him, waiting for an answer.

Seifer recognized that look. "... You..." He couldn't believe it. _(I will have her... as long as she is game, I will fucking have her for myself...)_ he vowed to himself.

"Oh, my God," Rinoa sighed, putting a hand to her forehead. _(Not another one for Selphie...)_ she thought.

"Sorry, that darned meeting took a while," Cid Kramer quipped as he entered his office, not seeing the tension that was building up between Seifer and Irvine. He sat down in his chair and looked at each of the cadets. "Well, let's get started."

He cleared his throat. "Well, I'm sure you know about that GF you encountered in Balamb, Irvine, Seifer, and Fujin and what effects it had on you. What I will tell you won't concern that Force itself, but what it is in general." He looked at them again, making sure they were listening close. "I contacted Dr. Odine in Esthar about this matter, because to tell you the truth, that summon is no ordinary GF, and there are many of its kind."

Fujin raised an eyebrow. "..."

"I don't know the full extent of this information, so I want those of you who were most actively involved in last year's incident to go talk to Odine in his laboratory about this. It may be useful in the future."

"Why, ya know?" Raijin questioned. "Why us?"

"Because..." the headmaster started, "I trust you nine the most. And..." he smiled slightly. "Afterwards, we will all visit the newly renovated orphanage house for a barbecue."

Irvine and Seifer smiled nostalgically. Rinoa clapped her hands together in excitement and Raijin and Fujin grinned good-naturedly.

"Today's Tuesday. The lab visit and the barbecue are on Friday. I'm telling you now before you plan anything else on that day. I will tell the other four about this matter as soon as they get in tonight."

Everyone nodded.

"Well, all right," Cid said. "Dismissed."

* * *

"Selphie," Squall gave her a scrutinizing look. "You..." He averted his eyes, sighing. "You confuse me."

They were sitting on a long couch in the living room, both only in towels. Squall was on one end, facing her slightly, while she sat in the middle section, turned toward him.

"I confuse myself," she admitted. She held her towel over her body tighter.

"First of all, what were you and Zell arguing about?"

"That was stupid," she replied, not looking at Squall. "I told him I didn't want to fly the Ragnarok because I wanted to talk to you and Quisty about... the kiss... right away. He asked why, and I joked that since he never tells me anything about him so I wasn't going to tell him things about me. He took it personally and we just started arguing..."

"Oh," he responded.

"He hates me," she murmured. "I've never been hated before... it's... depressing..."

Squall shook his head. "He doesn't, Selphie... he's just... complex, even if all you see is the chicken-wuss." He took her chin with one hand and lifted it so she was staring at him with sad eyes. "No one can hate someone like you," he said sincerely. "Not even Quistis, even though I can tell she was pissed about today's... incident."

Selphie smiled, her spirits lifted. _(He's being so open about things now... is it because of me?)_

He let go of her chin. "Now tell me about that kiss..." he looked away uncomfortably.

_(Oh...)_ "It didn't mean anything," she said firmly. "He kissed me because he likes me... but he's just a friend to me, Squall..." _(I have to talk to Seifer too when we get back... crap!)_ she thought.

"You kissed back," he pointed out, his voice quiet. "Does that mean anything?"

She shrugged guiltily. "I couldn't help it... he was just that good."

He rolled his eyes.

"Really! He is!" she insisted. "Why don't _you_ try kissing him?"

He gave her a disgusted look. "..."

"Squall, it's like..." she tried thinking of a good metaphor. "It's like a slice of cheese pizza. See, let's pretend I don't like pizza, but you shove it in my mouth, and it ends up being really yummy and I end up eating the entire thing, but I still don't like pizza afterward! It was just that one slice because I was _made_ to eat it. You get the picture?"

He smacked his forehead. "... That was the worst analogy I have ever heard."

She hit him on the arm, pouting. Then she let out a 'hmph' and turned away from him.

He gave her back a rare smile. _(Damn you for being so cute.)_ "Come on, Selph, you know I'm joking."

"I'm not convinced, Commander," she huffed, still pouting. "I thought about that analogy real hard!"

"Selphie... geez..." He leaned over and kissed her cheek from behind, his bare chest touching the back of her exposed shoulders. She turned to face him again, blushing faintly. She found that his face was pink, too. "I'll need more than that," she teased, laughing.

He gladly pecked her on the nose, and then on the forehead. He held her face and gave her a brief kiss on the lips. And then, Squall suddenly froze, staring into her face after their mouths separated. "But... what about Irvine?" he wondered unsurely.

Selphie melted at the anxious look in his eyes. _(Aww... Squally...)_ She blinked before answering. She hasn't been thinking about Irvine at all... and she told herself that he was the man she was in love with, until... "I don't know... I thought I was in love with him... but then..." she grinned mischievously. "You came along and mussed things up, Mister."

He raised an eyebrow.

"But I think I like it better this way." Selphie winked and stood up.

_(Good,)_ he thought to himself in relief, flushing as he watched her disappear into the hallway. Out of Seifer, Irvine, and himself... she had chosen him, the stoic, serious commander. She liked _him_.

* * *

The terrorist heard Xu's rapidly approaching footsteps, so he opened his eyes and expertly swung his axe up against hers on the underside of the blade, making it fly out of her hands and falling a few meters away. Xu cursed under her breath. She performed Thundaga on her opponent. He flinched, but it wasn't enough for him to get too much damage. He took his axe, aimed carefully, and threw it at her chest. She jumped away in time, slipping on the grass of the park. It clattered several yards behind her. Xu narrowed her eyes at him. She had to be careful. She knew he was carrying gun before. He might be hiding it in his trenchcoat.

Xu mentally searched her stock of magic. She knew she had an Aura somewhere... she just had to find it... that or a Meteor... Meteor! Meteor! She found one--

Too late.

The brunet blasted her with his own Meteor. A large meteorite hit her, sending to the ground. Things were falling on her left and right, and she couldn't dodge them all.

_(STOP BEING WEAK, XU!)_ she told herself. After the spell was over, she stood back up on shaky feet...

_(But... these spells... they seem so much stronger somehow... more than normal.)_

He already summoned his GF by the time she was on her feet. He vanished, and in his place was a bloody monstrosity staring at her. It was like a built, skinless human being, the lid-less eyes staring at her wildly like a piece of meat. It floated in mid-air like all GFs. A pointed tail swished behind it and a set of chipped horns were set on its head. Bloody, bat-like wings spread around it in a sinister manner.

Xu taught a Guardian Force Studies class. She knew about this particular one.

But... Her eyes widened.

It wasn't supposed to exist. _(Lucifer...)_

Lucifer, at a time that would put speed demons to shame, charged at her like a bullet, letting out a hellish growl, crashing through her body.

Xu felt something smash through her abdomen painfully.

_(Dark Cannon.)_

She touched her stomach...

And felt nothing. She looked down slowly. She saw a large hole through her body, bits of torn-up skin and a ring of blood around the edges. She dropped back to the ground, trembling with shock. The pain got worse as she tried to get back up again. She cried out, looking feebly for a Curaga.

The terrorist appeared again, his machine gun out. "Too slow," he said to her.

Xu stared up at him. "No," she muttered with all the energy she could muster.

_(Don't give it up! You're a SeeD!)_

He began firing his machine gun nonstop at her in point-blank range, wasting no time on waiting for her to counter his summon.

_Chaka-chaka-chaka-chaka-chaka..._

Xu reeled back and did nothing else but shield herself with her arms, unable to get out of the line of fire. She collapsed on the ground, face up. He came closer, still shooting away. The bullets hitting her body were causing her body to jump up from the impact.

_Chaka-chaka-chaka-chaka..._

Xu couldn't move anymore from the fiery pain all over her body. The salty drops of rain didn't soothe any.

_Chaka-chaka-chaka-chaka..._

She stared up at the rainclouds with one bloody, blurry eye, only seeing red...

The other eye had been shot at.

_Chaka-chaka..._

_(SeeD... we don't live to die...)_

_Chaka-chaka-chaka..._

_(We live... to protect...)_

Xu closed her eye with a final sigh.

The brunet, whose custom-made machine gun bore his name, Jarek Guthrie, left the butchered, now deformed body of the Second Commanding Officer of Balamb Garden on the ground, the rain washing away the blood on her skin.

Part of his mission accomplished.

* * *

Zell closed his eyes and let his mind wander. _(I really am a chicken-wuss...)_ Visions of his date way-back-when with Brie Sirea flashed through his mind. Her trying to kiss him, them yelling at each other, her slapping him and running away.

_(I could have handled that differently...)_

His thoughts went to Rinoa. He rejected her, too. Beautiful, selfless Rinoa with her lovely eyes and her perfect smile. One of his good friends. And she fell for him... she fell for the brash, stupid chicken-wuss... but he couldn't... he just couldn't. He couldn't grow to love her like that, he couldn't return those feelings.

_(I'm sorry, Rin...)_

And when he thought Rinoa, her personality, he thought of Selphie, because she was just as cheerful, but a lot more lively.

_(Selphie...)_

He could have handled that situation better, too. But he had a short temper, and when he got angry, he said things he didn't mean to say out loud. His first instinct would have been to fight her out of rage, but he wouldn't hit a girl unless it was an order from a higher-up. But did he mean to say all that? That he didn't trust her? He didn't want to fight with her... maybe he should apologize, or get _her_ to--

"Quistis to Zell!" yelled the radio at his belt.

He looked down, lazily watching the little red light come to life, indicating activity.

"ZELL!" Quistis sounded frantic, worried, shaky... scared. "Answer me, dammit!"

The blond immediately grabbed his radio. She sounded like she was crying. "Zell here, over," he answered hesitantly. "What's wrong, Quisty?"

"To the Timber Woods subdivision, now!" she cried through the static-y connection. "To their park! Please, Zell!"

"I'm on my way--"

"Hurry!"

Zell wondered why she was so upset. "... Quistis...? What's...?"

"God, Zell... Xu is dead!"

"We're still on a mission," Selphie reminded Squall from the hall. "And no radios! We need a faster way to dry those clothes and then find Quisty and Zell!"

Squall looked out the window. It was turning dark. "I think it's about time for us to meet at the entrance to the city, anyway. We still need to go to other Galbadian cities."

She came out with a hair dryer. "No sweat, we can split up and--hey!" She set the it down on the table and skipped to a phone that was on the kitchen wall. "Didn't they bring their cells?! And we have our cells! Oh my gosh! Why didn't we think of this before?!"

"Because yours is probably very wet by now, and besides, I lost mine," he told her. "They won't work too well under those conditions. But that wall phone will work."

"Actually... I don't have much battery left on mine..." she explained as she grabbed the reciever of the wall phone and dialed Zell's cell. Then she held it out to Squall, looking at him imploringly.

"What?" he asked, looking at the phone puzzledly.

"I don't wanna talk to him just yet," she answered meekly.

Squall snorted. "Fine." He stood up and grabbed the phone from her hand. He glanced at Selphie as she darted around, trying to find a plug for the dryer.

There were a couple rings and then a click. "Zell here."

"Hi, it's--"

"Yo! Where the holy hell were you?!" Zell screamed angrily. "Quisty and I tried to call your radio and Selphie's radio but got no fucking connection with either!"

"We're fine, Zell," Squall replied calmly. "Selphie found me in the rain... I passed out from fighting a terrorist... and now we're drying ourselves in an abandoned house--"

"Selphie's with you?! Thank Hyne, that saves us the trouble! Damn! Hyne knows how many times we've radioed and called you guys!"

"We have explanations for both."

Zell sighed, his voice turning oddly somber. "Squall... we need you two at the town entrance... we have something to tell you both..." His voice cracked.

"...Zell?"

"You and Selphie better come now, wet or not." He hung up.

Squall stared at the phone before putting it back on the cradle. What was that about?

Selphie turned the dryer on high, aiming it at her dress, which was laid across the table. Squall walked over to her and grabbed the hand that was holding the device, moving her index finger to turn it off. He looked at her seriously.

She raised an eyebrow. "Squally?"

"Zell wants us at the entrance. He needs to talk to us about something."

"Now?" she sounded disappointed. "Our clothes are still wet!"

"Yes... I don't know what it could be, but Zell seemed depressed about it." Squall took the hair dryer out of Selphie's hand and set it in a chair.

"Okay..." She made a grab for her dress and proceeded to the bathroom. "I'll get back into this, then..."

"Yeah." He paused, looking at his own clothes. "And I'll change in a bedroom or something." He looked at her awkwardly, suddenly remembering how much they weren't wearing. He blushed heavily and shifted his gaze to the ground. Out of the corner of the eye, he could tell that she was thinking the exact same thing.

* * *

"Two senators... killed by a disguised terrorist who pushed them onto the tracks," Squall repeated in numb shock. He was the only one who didn't know about it until now. "And... and Xu..." _(Oh, Hyne... oh, SHIT...)_

Selphie sank to the ground, stunned. "I don't believe this!" Her eyes welled up with tears as she looked up at the commander in disbelief. "Xu... she... who... how...?"

_(She's gotten more sensitive these days...)_ Squall thought absently as he sat down beside her sullenly. She rushed into his arms immediately, crying into his shoulder.

She, Squall, Zell, and Quistis were at the entrance again, talking to a different official than from when the SeeDs first came in (they must have switched off).

Quistis wiped her eyes for what seemed like the millionth time. The fact that Selphie was crying made her want to cry again over their loss. "Sorry," she told the official, her voice breaking. She felt Zell rub her back in comfort. He was pretty depressed himself.

"It's quite all right. It's very understandable," the official, who wore a sweater and pants and had his hair in a low black ponytail, replied gravely. He switched his black umbrella to his other shoulder.

"So what else do you need to tell us?" Squall questioned from the ground.

"The crowds for the trains are dying down, as you can see," the man replied. "Leaving us with about a quarter of our population left. You guys are done here. We will have Galbadians soldiers going on patrol all over town from now until who knows when."

Squall, Zell, and Quistis nodded. At this time, Selphie pulled away from Squall, drying her eyes. The two stood up from the ground.

Just then, a long block of Galbadian soldiers with two sergeants up front arrived at the entrance, halting in front of the official and the SeeDs. Squall and his comrades said good-bye and headed back into the town, organizing themselves for the next part.

"I called Headmaster... about everything..." Quistis spoke up softly. "And Nida just got done with his mission, so he, Firion and another, older SeeD named Baron Vevei will head to Deling City. I don't think any of us should be alone for this mission... I... didn't realize how strong REVOLUTION was..." Her voice cracked. She put a hand over her mouth, not wanting to weep again.

"None of us did," Selphie replied shakily.

Squall sighed. He looked at Zell, who was still and quiet for once. "I guess Selphie and I will go to Dollet, since it's on the same continent even though it's an independent place."

"Then we'll go to Winhill," said Zell. "Although we'll have to rent a car if we want to go there. Taking the Ragnarok will scream 'SeeD!'. Incognito-sorta, remember?"

"Yeah..." the commander responded. _(Still, it won't help the four of us any because our faces have been plastered on TVs and papers all over the world...)_

"Let's go," Quistis broke in, turning toward the car rental shop. "We can't waste time."

So finally, the group went to their respective places to leave Timber. Xu's death and the tragedy of the two senators still hung on their minds, but there was not time to mourn just yet. REVOLUTION's sudden appearances startled people, their murder escapades getting tons of media coverage all over the world. Where they could be next is still unknown. As well as who is and isn't one. They seemed to know every trick and vanishing act that soldiers nor SeeDs fell for, and they were using it to an advantage. Plus, there was something about their magic that makes their spells and summons seemed amplified in a way.

Maybe the things they'll find out on Friday will be useful.

* * *

Selphie hummed tonelessly to herself as she stared out the window of the moving train. Watching the hilly scenery go by as fast as it did made her dizzy and drowsy, yet she couldn't take her eyes off of it. That's what she loved about trains. They seemed to take her away from all the unnecessary horror and danger in the real world. She could just space out... dream about a certain commander, but then the daydreams were quickly replaced with visions of the blood and bodies on the train tracks... and imagining how Xu died...

"Selphie," Squall called out from the doorway. "Fifteen minutes until we stop."

"All right!" Selphie said in a cheerful tone as she removed herself from the window and attached herself to him affectionately, grinning.

He scowled down at her, examining her face. "You're still sad."

_(Bummer. He's too good at this...)_ Selphie's smile slowly disappeared. "Well... I was thinking... about..." She loosened her hold on him and looked down at her boots.

_(Xu...)_ Squall finished for her, starting to feel depressed, too. "Yeah..." His hands found their way to hers. He raised one of her delicate hands up and kissed it.

"Are _you_ okay?" she asked.

He closed his eyes briefly. "I was never close to Xu. Even so, it's just shocking." Still holding her hands, he pulled her to him and kissed her temple. "She was a good instructor and a good SeeD..."

Selphie raised her glassy eyes to him. "T-That's why you made her S-Second-in-Command?" she questioned.

"Yes."

Selphie buried her eyes in Squall's jacket, trying to keep her tears from falling. "You zipped it all the way up..." she murmured absent-mindedly after a while of silence.

"The blood on my shirt would look weird. You can't see it well on the black, though." Squall let go of her hands to wrap his arms around her. "You don't need to fake a smile, Selphie. Speak up when you feel down..."

"...Mm-kay..." she replied, her voice muffled.

"You know, you can tell me anything," he told her solemnly. "I... want to be a better person..." He looked past her, awkward with saying what he was about to tell her. "So... if... something's wrong... I want you to come to me, all right?"

"Squall... you know I do... but thanks..." She pulled away a little to glimpse up at him. For once, Squall saw a real smile from her, one that actually reflected the genuine felicity in her teary green eyes. "You don't need to get better at anything... you're perfectly fine!"

Squall grinned back. He couldn't help it; she makes him happy. He reached up and put a hand on her head fondly. "Thank you... Sefie."

Together, they walked into their cabin, holding hands. Selphie gave his hand a squeeze, grateful for him being there for her.

_(I will always come to you.)_

* * *

**A/N:** _SORRY!! I didn't mean for Irvine to like her too! But the end of chapter 4 said that the Irvine thing "wasn't over" and I simply just acted upon it... --; Don't worry, it won't last long..._

**REEEEEVVVIIIEEEEEEEEEEWWWSSSS...**

**Reno Loire:** Oo... you mean FFVII paralleling to FFVIII rite? Not VI to VII?

**rikku-chan:** don't get me wrong, I like Selfers too, but I just like Squelphies more... a lot more.

**Yuffie Kisaragi2:** more chapters coming right up.

**Miss Drucilla:** Wow, I made you gasp? gasps cool beans. Haha. Chatroom scenes are fun. I had three chatroom fics posted in the Fushigi Yuugi section, but FF.N decided they didn't qualify as real fanfics so they took them down... ( UNCOOL.

**Aramaring:** I'm glad you liked the chapter!

**123:** Happy ending? Hmmmm...

**Sweet Demon Slayer:** I do know a Selfer website, but I kinda lost the URL... ;; I know the link is on a Selfer author's profile, though... forgot which one... Meh. Sry. Heehee.

**Selphie108:** Haha, you're welcome?


	8. VII: No Place Like Home

**A/N:** _I'm not strong on Odine-speech. And I'm not very well-informed on the Laguna-Squall family thing... just so you know. Don't murder me for inaccuracy. .;; BTW, I forgot to say this last chapter, but I have nothing against Xu... but... yeah, I killed Xu. o.o;;_

**WARNING:** Super long chapter!! ;.; It'll probably be the longest in the story... hope you have a lot of time on your hands...

**Disclaimer:** FFVIII is not mine. S Club 7's lyrics to "Never Had a Dream Come True" is not mine. I just write fanfics.

* * *

**Maybe It Could Work  
by: Elcyion Pitye**

* * *

**VII. No Place Like Home**

_  
There's no use looking back or wondering.  
'Cause love is a strange and funny thing.  
No matter how I try and try,  
I just can't say good-bye..._

"Sefie."

Selphie, Squall, Zell, Quistis, Nida, Firion, and Baron had arrived at Garden late the night before, all exhausted from the mission.

It was after school on Wednesday. Selphie was exiting Xu's classroom, collecting the instructor's stuff. She hadn't seen any of her friends that morning for breakfast like she usually did, so she never got the chance to talk with some of them. She hadn't seen Squall so far, either. He was stuck in his office, doing paperwork and talking with some important people from different towns about the terrorists. Selphie herself had substituted for Xu, which wasn't easy for her, because she never considered herself good at teaching. Too bad none of her cadet friends had Xu for a teacher; it would have been easier to find how she had taught and what she taught.

Come to think of it, Selphie hadn't seen Nida all day, either. He knew Xu pretty well, too. It must have hit him as hard as it hit Quistis.

Rinoa, Seifer, Fujin, Raijin, and Irvine found out about Xu and the senators, of course. Rinoa cried even when she wasn't close to Xu, but she felt horrible about everything that happened in Timber. Yet she was able to get through the day. The fierce fire in Seifer's eyes were gone. Even he was sad about Xu's tragedy, even though he and the instructor butted heads all the time. Fujin, Raijin, and Irvine didn't know Xu that well, so they could only provide sympathy for the others.

Quistis called in sick, so someone subbed for her. Zell went to Balamb on an errand.

But back to the story.

Selphie looked up at the sound of her name, recognizing the voice immediately._(Irvy.)_

He was leaning against the wall in front of the door, waiting for her. She set down a box of Xu's things she was holding and clasped her hands behind her back. "Hey, Irvy."

He walked up to her hesitantly, his face serious. "Um, Sef..." He scratched the back of his neck nervously. "I need to talk to you..." He grabbed her wrist. "It's important."

Selphie's heart started beating wildly. Everything came rushing back. Squall being around helped her forget, but the absence of his presence brought it all back. Those feelings, those thoughts... but she had Squall now. She wouldn't dare go back to Irvine...

She looked down at the clasped hand around her small wrist. "Irvy--"

"Sefie," Irvine cut in. "I think... I don't know how it happened..." he chuckled to himself. "It just... did." He pulled her roughly to him, his arm wrapping easily around her waist. He crushed her to him, a different smile appearing on his face. Selphie struggled helplessly.

"Irvy... stop..."

He bent his head down to hers. "People change. I would give up all those girls for any love from you." He said it so honestly, so sweetly. This was the Irvine she fell in love with.

Selphie's eyes widened. The man she had once cried over was finally coming around. She had dreamed that a moment like this would come to her. Looking back, she knew that her drama over Irvine wasn't over...

Until now.

She attempted to pry his arm off her waist, at the same time trying to pull her wrist out of his grip. "Irvy... I can't."

His eyes narrowed. "Whaddya mean, you can't? I thought you... I thought you loved me." He looked wounded for a second, feeling let down.

She frowned sympathetically. "Irv--"

"There's someone else," another voice answered for her.

They both turned to find Squall standing in front of Irvine, his arms crossed. There was a deadly glint in his eye. "Let her go, Irvine."

The cowboy didn't. "What?" Irvine glared at Squall. "Who do you think you are to tell me this type of thing?" He remembered how he acted when he found out Seifer and Selphie kissed. He got angry over it. That anger surprised even himself. It was a lot like how he was acting at that moment, but somehow, he couldn't help it.

Selphie didn't say anything. She stared at her boots.

"Irvine, I know you don't usually act this brash," Squall said, narrowing his blue-grey eyes at his friend. "You think you still have a chance?"

Irvine reluctantly let Selphie go. She skittered out of the way of the boys. "What the hell are you getting at, Leonhart?" He clenched his fists at his side.

Squall stepped up to him until he was in his personal space, glaring at the Galbadian with the downright murder in his eyes she couldn't see since she was behind him. "She belongs with me," he said in a low, malicious voice.

Selphie looked up, her eyes softening at Squall's words.

Irvine stared at him, dumbfounded, unable to speak. The anger in his gut dissipated, replacing it with wariness. He had never seen Squall this... sinister before.

The commander edged back until he was next to Selphie. "You came too late, Kinneas... you don't know how much she's cried over you... you could've had her then... but now..." Squall didn't finish. He took Selphie's hand gently, his expression relaxing.

How much she's cried over you...

Irvine did an emotional turnaround and closed his eyes, thinking. ___(Too late, Kinneas... too damn late. She's with... him now. I'm sorry, Sefie...)_

"Don't get me wrong, Irvine," Squall continued. "We're still friends. I'm not trying to threaten you or anything." He smiled a little. "I just want to get things straight."

___(Sefie can put a smile even on that commander's face...)_

Selphie smiled apologetically. "I... I'm sorry, Irvy... but..." She looked bashfully at the ground.

"It's okay, Sef..." Irvine sighed, surrendering, giving up the fight he wished he had fought in earlier. "I'm sorry for acting like that..."

"It's all right."

___(On the stage... when she first told me...)_ Irvine thought, part of himself drifting into his mind.

He grinned a little. "Oh, yeah, and threaten me, Leonhart? You better work on that department..."

Squall glowered at him.

___(I could have told her I felt the same... because I did, but I thought it was something else...)_

The Galbadian looked at his friends, an eyebrow raised. "Actually, I kind of knew something like this would happen eventually. But when did this relationship come about? You kissed... SEIFER. And now you're with SQUALL."

"Weird story... I'll tell you later," Selphie replied.

"We've been with each other since yesterday," Squall spoke up, answering his question.

___(They look like they've been together forever...)_

He told them so, and they both blushed. Even Irvine had to admit that strangely enough, Squall and Selphie looked pretty damn good together.

___(I thought it was sympathy and love for my best friend... not FALLING in love...)_

Squall tugged on Selphie's hand. "Let's go see Zell. He's back. You need to talk to him about... yesterday."

She sobered up some. "Oh... he's back already? I thought he'd be back a lot later today..."

Squall shrugged.

"Okay, then, let's go. Irvy can come too." She one-handedly grabbed the box of Xu's things and started pulling Squall in the direction of the elevator.

___(Today, when I was by myself with Selphie... I didn't act like myself... it was more like my pent-up feelings for her... the ones I never knew I had. If I knew my flirtatiousness hadn't masked my true emotions, would I have been like those two are now? Would I have realized that yes, I did in fact liked her?)_

"He'd just be confused," Squall commented quietly.

"He'll catch up," Selphie replied, winking up at her cowboy best friend, who was at the couple's side as they headed to the elevator.

___(Things are back to the way they should be between my best friend and me...)_

Irvine lagged behind a little, watching the new couple in regret.

___(Still... I'm too late... if only...)_

She was intimately murmuring things to Squall as the three entered the lift. Squall smiled softly at her, replying to her words in the same quiet tone.

___(Well... I can't linger on the past... on what it could have been... I have to work for the future...)_

* * *

Seifer knocked on Quistis' dorm room gently. No answer. He leaned his ear against the door, trying to hear what was going on the other side. Nothing.

He knocked again, his face showing worry. "Quisty," he called. "It's Seifer..."

He heard rustling on the other side. The door slid open, revealing a flannel pajama-wearing SeeD, looking very sullen and tired. Her golden blonde hair hung limp around her shoulders. Her crystal blue eyes seemed dark and weathered. Her face and eyes were dry, indicating that she wasn't crying.

She also didn't seem to want to see him.

She was still surprisingly beautiful, especially with her hair down. Seifer was taken aback for a second, but recovered quickly. He smiled consolingly. "How are you holding up?"

___(Hyne, Seifer... look at you... becoming weak... friendly... sympathetic... a big softie... damn friends.)_

She beckoned him inside. "I don't know... just... don't ask me that right now."

The door hissed closed behind Seifer. "Sorry..." He leaned against the wall and watched as she plopped down on her couch, staring at her coffee table gloomily.

"I know this isn't a good time," Seifer spoke up, stumbling over his words, "but I don't want us... to be uncomfortable with each other when... I want to be there for you because..."

Quistis glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "Are you talking about Selphie?"

He blinked. "Yeah." He ran his hand through his hair. "I... heard you..."

She nodded.

"Sorry." Seifer avoided looking at her.

"What, about the kiss? What is there to be sorry about? You don't need my permission to kiss somebody." Quistis turned in the couch to look at him. "If anything, I should be apologizing to you for that random outburst. I was angry... over nothing. If you like Selphie, then you like Selphie."

Seifer nodded in understanding. "Well... you don't need to," he said.

She sighed, her mind on something else again. "Hey, Seifer?"

"What?"

"... Come here."

He removed himself from the wall and walked over to his instructor, taking a seat next to her on the couch. "Quis?" he asked.

Suddenly, she threw herself in his arms and started crying uncontrollably, her sobs racking her body. She buried herself in his chest, holding on to him tightly Seifer's eyes widened. He had never seen her like this. He put his arms around her slowly. He didn't know Xu meant so much to Quistis. "Shh... Quisty..."

"S-She was one of my best friends b-before last year's ordeal," she hiccuped. "And... and I knew h-her... better than anybody did... even N-Nida..."

"Quistis..."

"She was different t-than how other people... saw her..." Her sobbing was beginning to cease. She pulled away to wipe her tears. Seifer put his hands on her shoulders and gave them a squeeze. He didn't know how else to comfort her.

"Sorry, Seif," she whispered. "For that--"

"There's nothing to be sorry for," he said to her. He stood up and started for the door. "Get some more rest, Quisty."

She was about to ask him to stay, but there was a knock at her door. It slid open on its own, revealing Squall, Selphie, and Irvine.

Seifer looked at Selphie warily, his feelings for her emerging once again. "..."

She stared up at him guiltily and stood closer to Squall out of slight fear. "We were going to see Zell... and I realized that Quisty was on the way, so... we decided to pop in... if that's all right..."

Seifer lowered his gaze to the couple's comfortably intertwined fingers._(So, that's it, huh? You and Commando... didn't think it would happen...)_ There was a pain in his heart that wouldn't subside. There was an anger he yearned to get out of him, but he knew he wouldn't for everyone's sake. Seifer gritted his teeth and clenched his fists at his side. He couldn't let himself get mad over this. It was Selphie's choice. If she chose Squall, then... he would happy for her. Because it made his petite friend happy._(Still... why would she kiss back...?)_

He must have looked pissed, for Selphie said, "I shouldn't have run off like that yesterday... Seifer... I'm sor--"

The blond held up a hand, giving her a dismissive smile. "It's okay... really." He looked from her to Squall. "I understand." (Even though you're with him now... why would you kiss me back? Why?! You little bi-no, sorry, you're not, but dammit!)

"Come inside," Quistis called quietly.

Squall, Selphie, and Irvine came in. The Trabian set the box down on the floor by the door and stayed attached to her new boyfriend as they sat next to Quistis on the couch, with Selphie in the middle. Irvine sat against a wall, like he usually did, his hat hiding his face. He didn't speak.

"I know what you came here to talk to me about," Quistis said quietly. She glanced down at Selphie's arm, which was cuddled against Squall's. She smiled slightly. The commander looked from Quistis to Selphie.

"Should Irvine, Seifer, and I leave?" he asked.

"You don't have to," Quistis said.

Selphie shrugged. "Only if you wanna."

The boys stayed put.

There was an awkward silence. "Quisty," Selphie began, looking at her friend with honest eyes, "I'm sorry if I upset you... I ... I didn't mean to... you know..."

That suddenly brought Quistis back to the moment Selphie and Seifer kissed. It played in her head over and over for a little bit, but she saw now that Selphie didn't feel that way about Seifer. Selphie didn't like Seifer. Seifer can't have her.

The blonde blinked, grinning abruptly. This took Selphie by surprise.

"It's okay," Quistis said.

Selphie blinked, too. "Oh... okay!"

"Why did you kiss back, Sef?" Seifer asked from out of nowhere, leering at Selphie. The tone of his voice was almost a threatening growl.

Everyone's eyes, including Irvine's, were on her, all wanting to know the answer. Only Squall really knew why. He stared at Seifer with the same look as his, daring him to try anything.

Selphie laughed nervously, letting go of Squall's arm. "It's kind of embarrassing..."

The air was heavy... the mood was tense...

Squall suppressed a smile. He glanced at Selphie as she broke in with, "Well... Seifer was just a really good kisser..."

Seifer turned bright red and stared at the ground. He had never been told that. Quistis blushed too, although no one really knew why.

Irvine rolled his eyes while Squall smirked to himself and slipped his arm around Selphie's shoulders.

"See," the Trabian continued matter-of-factly, "it's like this... pretend that I don't like pizza..."

* * *

"Now it's Zell's turn," Squall told Selphie as they left Quistis' dorm (Irvine and Seifer were still inside). They started heading further down the hall.

"Zell's turn for what?"

Selphie jumped a mile in the air, startled. Squall simply turned around. "Oh, we were just looking for you," he greeted the martial artist calmly.

Zell glanced at Squall and then Selphie. He crossed his arms, a wary look on his face. "Whaddya need me for?"

"Well, there's two things," Selphie spoke up, stepping forward so that she was directly in front of her tattooed friend. She bowed, her eyes set pathetically at the ground. "I'm sorry, Zelly. I... shouldn't have... I didn't mean to..."

She heard Zell sigh from above her, and tilted her head upward to meet his gaze. He smiled slightly at her.

"What?" Selphie broke in.

"You're never that formal with anyone."

"Hey now, it's sincere..." She straightened herself and put her hands on her hips.

Zell quirked an eyebrow. "Don't get worked up! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Hey!"

Squall continued to stand there silently.

"I forgive you, Selph," Zell told her truthfully, suddenly turning serious again. "But I should be apologizing to you... for saying those things to you..." He looked away.

Selphie squealed and pounced on him, squeezing the life out of her friend. In return, he held her up and patted her on the back. "Oh-Hyne-I-was-afraid-you-would-hate-me-forever..." were among the things she was babbling in a matter of nanoseconds as she jumped from Zell's arms and danced around him and Squall.

The commander let her be for a while and then grabbed her by the arm to stop her. She did.

"The second thing," he said, "is that Selphie and I are..." his cheeks reddened. Selphie looked up at him in mirth.

For once, Zell knew exactly what Squall was talking about. "..."

He was shocked, needless to say.

"Zell, it's not that surprising," Squall told him, getting slightly annoyed.

"Well... it's just that you... and Selphie..." he shook his head. "You two are pretty different... wow... you... the grumpy, hard-ass commander... and happy Selphie... I didn't think someone like you could handle--" He let out a cry when he saw Squall walk away angrily. "Squall! Hey! I'm sorry if I offended you!" The Trabian laughed as the blond caught up to their commander, apologizing incessantly. She jogged after them, yelling at the two of them to wait up.

All in all, even with Xu gone, the heroes can look forward and move on.

* * *

"So..." Irvine said to Seifer as they sat across from each other in the passenger's cabin on the Ragnarok. The cowboy had his feet propped up on the seat in front of him as he leaned against the back of his seat with his hands clasped around the back of his head.

Seifer leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, staring at the chair in front of him. "Yeah..."

Friday finally came around, and there wasn't much tension between the two anymore ever since they found out that Selphie was with Squall. They actually forgot about their brief resentment toward each other.

Seifer snorted. "We both lost, huh?"

"..."

"Sefie, I mean..." he continued, "Hah, who'da thought the two boys of the orphanage posse would fall for the only girl of it?" He shook his head. "I shouldn't have tried..."

"There's someone else, though," Irvine replied lazily. "Someone else for ya... ya gotta wait for it. She can give ya what Sefie can't."

Seifer looked up at his friend quizzically. "What? Who?!"

"Nothin'." ___(Quistis, ya dumbass! Even I know that!)_ Irvine didn't feel like tell him right then, because he wanted the gunblade specialist to find out for himself... and for Quistis to go for it on her own.

"Well, how about you? The... Sefie thing?" the ex-knight prompted, changing the subject. "How do you feel about that now?..."

Irvine gave him a long, mysterious look. "What Sefie thing?"

A silence hung in the air. Then Seifer smiled knowingly. "Right. My bad. That doesn't exist..." ___(...Anymore...)_

* * *

"Welcome! Welcome back to ze lab!" greeted Dr. Odine enthusiastically as the nine friends and the headmaster entered the lab outside of the city.

"Please do not just stand zere, come with me to zis room!" The short doctor started heading down a hall they had never seen before.

"What a freak," Squall whispered as he warily followed Odine. He felt a giggling Selphie link her arm through his. She glanced back at the others, who were coming in behind them.

Rinoa and Irvine were having a quiet argument over something Selphie couldn't make out. Behind those two were Seifer, Zell, and Quistis walking comfortably side-by-side. Selphie caught Rinoa glancing at Zell behind her from time to time. The T-boarder didn't really notice. Fujin was listening to whatever Cid was muttering about, and Raijin brought up the rear, silently contemplating about something.

The hall they were walking through was long. It slanted downward toward a set of glass double doors they could see at the end through the glass tunnel-like structure covering the hall. There was nothing to see out the windows, for it was all pitch black. The small lights inside the hall/tunnel was barely enough for the others to see their way. Selphie got a little scared and held on to her boyfriend tighter. Of course, Squall didn't find anything like this frightening.

"Where the heck are we?" Rinoa inquired, looking around. "It's so dark around us... it's kind of scary..."

Irvine went on ahead of her, looking out at the darkness thoughtfully. "This sure is strange..."

"Zis is ze underground laboratory," Odine explained, fixing his gaudy, striped collar. "We hardly come in here because zere are some dangerous contraptions and ozer zings. Zere is even a waiting room zrough ze door zat you see zere. Beyond zat is anozer door leading to ze actual room we will be in."

"And all of this for research such as that GF three of these cadets have encountered?" Cid broke in.

"Zat is necessary. Top secret and not safe."

They all stopped in front of the door. Odine opened it slowly and went through. Squall took a peek into the waiting room, and found, of all people, his father, Laguna, Kiros, and Ward standing around, looking bored.

Squall, reluctant, stepped back suddenly, bumping into Rinoa._ (Selphie had let go of him by that time, dashing into the room.)_

"Watch it!" Rinoa cried lightly, pushing him away. "Geez, Squall." She looked past him. "Oh..."

___(Great,)_ Squall thought unhappily as he watched his girlfriend head into the room and greet the president of Esthar with a huge smile on her face. ___(Why does she like him so much, anyway?)_

"You better watch your girl, Leonhart," Seifer joked. "Looks like you've got competition."

"Shut up, Seifer."

Rinoa glanced up at him for a second. ___(Does Seif still like her?)_ She couldn't tell from his expression or his eyes. If he still did..._(... then he hides it very, very well...)_

"Hey!" Laguna proclaimed happily as everyone entered the unusually and conveniently large waiting room. His hair was back to black and was wearing his usual blue button-down and khaki pants. Kiros and Ward were also dressed the same way, except theirs were maroon and green, respectively. Selphie was standing by, beaming and chatting. Her eyes wandered around and eventually fell upon Squall, who didn't look too happy at the fact that she had been talking cheerfully to his estranged father. A nervous look appeared on Laguna. She skipped back to Squall's side with a slight look of guilt on her face.

Odine stood in front of the lab door on the other end, his hands clasped behind his back. "Listen to me, please!"

The chatters and murmurs died down, and all eyes were on the doctor.

"So, you will discover new information about zese Guardian Forces," he continued. He gestured to the door. "Inside here, we will see something and talk about ze information I have."

Rinoa's heart all of a sudden started beating hard in her chest. (Why do I feel so nervous?) she wondered, knitting her eyebrows together in puzzlement. She started backing up a few steps. (Are my sorceress powers reacting to whatever's there?) She noticed that the closer she got to the door leading to the lab, the more anxious she got.

"Rin?" came a voice from behind her.

She whirled around.

Zell.

"Huh?" she asked.

"Are you all right?" he questioned, smiling. "You seem jumpy. You look like you're about to freak out."

Odine turned to the sorceress. "Just as I zought." The two teens jumped at his voice. They didn't expect him to be listening in... "Your sorceress powers react strongly to what I have beyond ze doors. You should stay out here in case anything happens. Conveniently, zere is a speaker for you to listen in when ze rest of us are inside."

"Oh," she responded. ___(That sucks...)_

"Hey, one of us should stay with Rinny!" Selphie suggested. "So she won't be all lonely by herself."

Rinoa waved her off. "No, it's--"

"I'll do it," spoke up Zell, raising his hand.

"Oh, okay," the sorceress answered contentedly. ___(Wow, you're an idiot, Rin,)_ she told herself. ___(You still like him even when he said he didn't like you?)_

So, everyone except Zell and Rinoa were herded into the lab. Seifer looked at her funny as he walked past her. He knew the situation, and was surprised that Rinoa still liked him even though she and the T-boarder haven't talked to each other much lately.

When they were alone in that conveniently large waiting are, Zell sat down in a futuristic-looking cushioned chair and crossed his arms. He leaned back against the chair and watched as Rinoa sat in the chair across from him, self-consciously pulling down the tail of her duster as she sat down. She set her hands on her lap, looking down at them quietly.

"We haven't chatted in a while," Zell spoke up in an oddly serious tone.

The girl looked up at him. He had his eyes narrowed scrutinizingly at her, trying to figure her out. "You've been avoiding me, huh?" he continued, sighing.

"Um..." she looked to her side. She didn't know how to answer that one. She knew she kind of was, but she didn't mean to because they were still friends, but the confession just made her feel weird around him...

"Tch, Rin, if we were still friends, we'd still be talking like before," he said slowly. "Now... I'm just not feeling what we had up until..." he had a hard-to-read expression on his face. Rinoa had to admit, he looked the most mature as she'd ever seen him. It made him awfully attractive.

"Ze--" The crackle of the speaker interrupted her.

"Okay, if ze two people outside can hear me, rap gently on ze door."

Zell, who was the closest to the door, gave it a swift kick.

"... Zank you."

They heard the microphone being fiddled around with, murmurs in the background from the others (with Selphie's unmistakably the loudest.)

"So... now I will tell you about zese special Guardian Forces. Zey may affect... a lot."

* * *

The room the others had entered was a large, darkened, circular room. A long, continuous desk lined the walls, the entire thing cluttered with papers, test tubes, and other gadgets no one could identify. The only light source everyone had was from a colossal, cylindrical tank lit up in the center of the room. It was like a column holding the ceiling up, only it was made of glass and was filled to the top with a blue-green colored, transparent substance.

And to everyone's shock and awe as they placed themselves around this glass column in somewhat of a circle, floating inside the tank was a humongous being. There was a grey, horrific face staring at the select few who happened to make their posts in front of this creature. Its bloody eyes gaped wildly and blankly out, its jaw dropped in a silent, angry scream, revealing the dangerously sharp canines that still had stains of blood. The being's gnarled, bony arms were spread from its body, as if ready to charge. A long, ironically regal cloak covered the creatures body, with a belt of gold tied securely around the small body. What was most astonishing was how its head was in fact made of poisonous-looking snakes. They were attached to her scalp like hair, floating in the water.

"What the hell is this?!" Seifer exclaimed in wonder, slightly afraid of the sight of this mysterious creature.

"Zis is what we will call... a DF," Odine explained in a solemn manner. A Dark Force."

"A Dark Force..." Kiros repeated under his breath. He tentatively looked up at the creature in the cylindrical tank, his dark eyes meeting the dead ones of the DF's.

"What's the name of it?" Laguna questioned, refusing to even glance at the monstrous being. Instead, he focused his attention on his son, who was standing not too far away with that Trabian girl holding his hand. (Hey, wasn't he with that girl in blue...? Never mind, I'll ask later... if Squall'll let me.)

"Medusa," Odine answered. "Zis one was found dead a few year back, buried in ze ground in Centra. We didn't want too many ozers knowing about zis so we kept it secret. I'm soon going to release information on DFs to ze public... zey need to know ze danger involved with zis."

"What dangers?" Irvine asked. "How are GFs and DFs different?"

"GFs are ze opposite of DFs. GFs, once junctioned to you, provide you more power and enhance your skills as a fighter. DFs, however, once junctioned, feed off of your powers like a parasite. Zey devour you until you eventually become zat DF. Now zey seem to be enhancing your powers by a lot, but really zat's just a cover up from people like me in case I get suspicious."

Quistis slowly paced around where she was, where Medusa's back was facing her. "So, DFs use us as hosts for their own agenda... now, what does this have to do with Rinoa's sorcery?"

"Zat is like giving ze DFs power drinks," Odine replied, seating himself in a rolling chair. "If ze sorceress is strong enough, ze DF will be powerful enough to be invincible. Zey react strongly to zose powers and use zem for zeir own schemes. Zey do not obey to you like GFs. "

Quistis remembered something. (Rinoa wants to get Hecate for her prerequisite... but no one really knows much about Hecate...) "What DFs do you know of other than Medusa?"

"Only Reaper and Lucifer."

"And Hecate?"

Odine rubbed his chin in thought. "Hecate... we are not so sure of, but we are pretty sure it is a GF."

"How can you tell, though?" Squall queried.

"I was at the Ezarian Hospital... and zis boy was zere wiz an unexplained sickness. He was fatigued, restless, and from time to time in pain. Ze doctors zere had to call me to examine him. Zen I saw zat he had junctioned Reaper. Reaper could not be unjunctioned. Zat is ze main zing. Possibly ze only characteristic you need. Ozerwise, it is hard to tell unless you have it. But you'll also know it is one if you cannot Scan it. Also zere are characteristics you would not understand unless you were a scientist like me."

Everyone took the information to mind.

"Wait a minute," Seifer broke in, realizing something. "What does Reaper look like?"

Odine promptly stood up from his chair and walked to a computer in one corner of the room. He turned it on, and a holographic field popped up near the corner of the ceiling. Some of the heroes (Raijin, Fujin, and Kiros) moved so the tank wouldn't be in the way.

Odine typed in some things on the keyboard, and that same image of what Irvine, Seifer, and Fujin saw came up, looking just as real as before.

The three previously mentioned cadets shrank back fearfully.

Selphie glimpsed at the DF's image for a brief second before hiding her face in Squall's shirt, letting out a scared gasp. The commander himself narrowed his eyes, feeling a little uneasy himself. He eventually moved his eyes to Selphie and kept them there.

In fact, every person in the room somehow avoided looking at the DF.

"Zis is Reaper's power. It is called Terror Kaleidoscope," Odine explained. "Whatever you fear and dread is seen in plain sight if you look at ze Reaper. No one knows how it works, but it has a strong effect on zose it casts its spell upon. You eizer look away or stare compellingly... if ze first happens, you will have a handicap for ze rest of your fight. If ze latter happens, you fall unconscious and most likely lose ze battle, or if ze opponent or DF wants, kill you."

Odine closed the field and shut down the computer.

"..." spoke up Ward.

"Ward is wondering if there is anything else you need to tell us," Kiros translated to Odine. "About this, I mean."

"Take caution... and good luck! Okay, zat is enough for today." Odine, with his hands clasped behind his back, hastily led the way back out. "Shoo!"

* * *

Outside the room, Rinoa let out a big sigh of relief. So Hecate was okay. For now that is. She glanced at Zell. "I think they're done," she told him, noticing that there was no more talking over the speaker.

They heard the click of it being shut off, confirming Rinoa's words.

"Well then," Zell said. He stood up, stretching his legs. "To Matron's we go! I'm starving! I wonder if she has hot dogs..." He started pondering about that. Or rather, fantasizing about his favorite food. He was ready to saunter out the door, but he stopped and turned to Rinoa. "So what did you want to say to me before that lecture thing?"

She stood up and smoothed her clothes out. She didn't remember. "Um..."

The door of the lab room opened, and everyone started walking out. "Hey," said Laguna merrily as he spotted Zell and Rinoa. "I hope you didn't feel left out or anything..."

Zell and Rinoa had already started walking ahead of the incoming group. They had ignored Laguna.

"Hey now..." the president protested. He scratched his head in thought. "Maybe they just didn't hear me," he told himself as he walked with Kiros and Ward back to the main part of the lab.

Meanwhile, Zell walked alongside Rinoa silently with his hands in his pockets. She didn't seem to interested in talking to him, and needless to say, he was a bit hurt by this gesture. No one knew how much they've bonded, and the two have bonded a lot. They were great friends, but all of a sudden, it was gone... and all because he rejected her?

He nudged her with his elbow. "Hey, Rin..."

"Yeah?" she asked him.

"You're acting like this because I don't love you, huh?" he said bluntly. "You're not... ya know... being the way you were before around me..."

"Zell," Rinoa responded. She glanced at him. "I... don't know. I feel... embarrassed almost... because somehow, thinking back on this, I knew something between us wouldn't work out... but I didn't realize it until it was too late. I mean, I really do like you like that... but I shouldn't have pursued you."

"Rinoa... I really wish I could," he replied, Mature Zell coming back into play. "But you're like a sister to me... and I can't see you in any other way." He smiled at her honestly. "Now... my sister is keeping her distance from me and it kinda hurts, ya know?"

Rinoa slowly and uncertainly linked her arm through her old friend's, glimpsing at him shyly. "I'm sorry," she said truthfully. "I was absorbed in my own feelings concerning you..."

"Me, eh?" he repeated, back to being Regular Zell. "I could get used to being thought about all the time... huh, Rinny?"

"You're not very considerate." She elbowed him with her occupied arm, making him cry out.

"Yo! That's not cool! You're off my buddy list!"

"Well, good!" she cried back. "You're off my buddy list, ZELL DINCHT!"

"I never wanted to be on yours, RINOA HEARTILLY!"

From somewhere behind them, Seifer stared at the two in wonder. "They're pretty odd..." he said to Irvine, who was falling in step with him, "But in a way... they're interesting together. Does Chicken-wuss really not see Rinny in that way?" He had a disbelieving expression on his face.

Irvine snorted. "Huh, go figure."

* * *

"Matron!" Selphie exclaimed excitedly as she rushed off the Ragnarok's ramp. She and the others had arrived safely at the orphanage (they wouldn't have wanted it any other way), all excited about they're little barbecue party.

Edea, in her old garb of the charcoal-colored dress and the dark apron with her extraordinary long hair cascading down her back, laughed gently as she watched Selphie stumble up to her at the doorway, tripping once or twice on the way. ___(This is exactly how I remember her...)_ the woman thought fondly.

"Sefie..." Squall called out from behind her, walking at a slower pace. "Careful." He rolled his eyes when she tripped again as she turned to look at him.

___(This boy has changed so much because of these people...)_

"Wow!! This place is soooo pretty!!" Selphie cried from the bottom of the steps, whirling herself around in a circle to look around at everything... the newly painted house, the new flowers, the green grass, the new gate that surrounded the perimeter...

Squall caught up to her and slipped his arm around her from behind and pulled her to him. "Let's go inside," he murmured into her ear.

She calmed down a bit and leaned her head back so she could look up at him. "'Kay."

Edea looked at them oddly._(Isn't he with that sorceress?...)_ She watched confusedly as Squall and Selphie headed inside together.

Irvine, Zell, and Seifer came up next and greeted their matron.

"It smells nice," Zell sniffed. He looked at the brightly colored flowers in the ground and in the bushes. "Awesome stuff here..." he reached his hand out--

"Hey, don't touch that, Chicken-wuss!" Seifer scolded suddenly.

"Yo! Don't tell me what to do!" Zell yelled, angrily, shaking his fist at Seifer. "And I'm not touching anything, dammit!"

"Hey, y'all, calm down," Irvine spoke up casually.

"Chicken-wuss! Chicken-wuss!" Seifer taunted, running past Edea to the beach. "C'mon, Dincht! Kinneas! To the beach!"

"No one calls me Chicken-wuss and gets away with it!" Zell cried as he went after his tall friend. Irvine followed after, calling out, "Actually, Zell, I beg t'differ!"

___(They never change,)_ thought Edea, laughing softly.

"Matron," Quistis said as she entered the gate, jogging up to her to hug her.

"Are you all right, Quistis?" Edea questioned, patting her "child" on the back consolingly. "I've heard from Cid about things..."

Quistis stiffened slightly but chuckled to herself. "I'll be okay..."

The two separated from the embrace. Edea smiled at her. "Why don't you go look around? I'm sure you'd want to see what has been done to this place."

"Oh, I'd love to!" the instructor exclaimed, walking past her to the door. Quistis, after nodding at her matron good-bye, twisted the doorknob and went inside.

Afterwards, Cid came up to see her. "Hello, dear," he greeted his wife, putting his hand on her shoulder and kissing her forehead. "How is everything?"

"Oh, wonderful," she said to him. "I have the meat ready in the refrigerator. Tell the boys to start. Oh, and Ellone is at the beach, too. I'm sure Zell, Irvine, and Seifer will notice." She started walking past him in the direction he came from. "I think Rinoa and I will show our newcomers around."

As if on cue, Laguna, Ward, and Kiros appeared outside the gate, stopping to have a conversation. Rinoa, Raijin, and Fujin weren't too far away from them, looking like they thought they didn't belong.

Edea stopped near Laguna silently. It took him a while to notice she was there, and when he did, he jumped about a mile in the air. "Don't do that!" he yelled.

"I didn't do anything," she replied simply.

"Don't mind him, he's always like that," Kiros told her.

Laguna glared at his friend. "Hey, what are you talking about?!"

"Nothing."

"..." said Ward.

"Ward says you're slow," Kiros translated.

Laguna silently fumed and then turned calmly to Edea. "So, uh, this is the orphanage, huh?" he started. "New, improved, and ... yeah." He looked up at it. "It's cool. This is where... Squall lived for a couple of years?" A sad look suddenly came over his eyes. "I really should've... come back for him..."

"Don't worry about it," Edea said sympathetically. "We are all here now. And this is your chance to really talk to him..."

Laguna frowned and started walking toward the house. "Nah, he hates me... he won't give me the time of day..."

"Laguna, maybe you should actually try--" Kiros began.

"I did," the president interrupted, turning around to actually glare at the others. This even caught Rinoa's, Fujin's, and Raijin's attentions. They had started walking closer to the group of adults. "I did," he repeated, "I tried... but I can't stand getting the cold shoulder from him, so why bother?"

"Laguna--" Edea started.

"I'll be at the beach," he cut in, waving good-bye nonchalantly. He left the others quickly, not wanting anymore talk about his problems.

* * *

"Awesome!" Selphie squealed, looking into the bedroom. She sat herself down on a bed. "Matron got new beds! Now they're our sizes!" She flopped herself back on it, staring at the ceiling peacefully. "Home sweet home!" she commented.

Squall lay down on his side next to her, his arm snaking its way around her waist. "Yeah..." he responded slowly.

Selphie turned so that she was on her side, too, facing him with a loving smile on her face.

He slipped his other arm around her and pulled the girl to him. He had never felt like this with Rinoa. He had never wanted someone as much as he wanted Selphie. He had never loved someone as much, either. Even after such a short period of time of actually being with her, he felt as though he could spend forever with this girl.

She let out a soft giggle and cuddled against him, brushing her lips against his briefly. Squall's hand went to the back of her neck as he dove in for more, his mouth feverishly meeting hers.

"Cute... cute... really."

Squall, blushing furiously, parted from her abruptly and craned his neck to meet their intruder.

Selphie beamed. "Hey Quisty!"

Quistis smiled warmly and looked around the room in fond remembrance. "Wow... this place is nicely revamped, huh?" Repainted walls, new shelves and bricks, new furniture, new everything else... carpet was even added.

"Yup! Hey, you brought stuff for sleeping over, right?" Selphie questioned, sitting up. Squall unwillingly followed suit.

"Of course I did. We all did."

"Woo-hoo! Slumber party!"

Quistis laughed.

"Hey! So here's where the lovers are," called a playfully taunting voice from the door. Seifer peeked his head in. "Oh, and Quisty's here, too."

"Well, yee-haw," announced Irvine as he appeared at the doorway also.

Selphie looked at them, a contemplative look on her face. Why were they acting like... nothing happened... that is, concerning her? Aren't they hurt? Doesn't see she and Squall make them uncomfortable?

"What do you guys want?" Squall asked bitterly. He wanted some alone time with Selphie, but no, his friends had to show up and ruin the moment.

Irvine scratched the back of his neck. "Well, Matron and Headmaster want us out on the beach to catch the sunset. The grill's set up and Raijin's firing up the hot dogs and the burgers."

___(RAIJIN is?? Oh well, whatever.)_ Squall looked up at a clock that was above the door. "The sun won't set for like, another two hours..."

___(They're acting so normal,)_ Selphie thought. ___(Well, then... our relationship... maybe it could work... again.)_

The more serious look on her face faded, and a big grin slowly spread across her face. "Aw, who cares, Squally?" Selphie exclaimed. "Let's go play!" She jumped to her feet, facing him. She took his hands and pulled him to a standing position. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" He stood up reluctantly and let her drag him out the door past Quistis, Irvine, and Seifer. "WAR!!" they heard her yell as they heard a door swing open from somewhere kind of far away.

"Hey! Ya heard the girl!" Irvine cried with gusto, feeling energized. "We're playin' WAR!!" Letting out a cowboyish cry, he jogged on in pursuit of his best friend.

Seifer laughed. "Hell yeah!" He turned to Quistis and grabbed her arm. "Let's go, Quisty! You're on my side! You've got the intelligence thing down! We'll win for sure!"

Quistis blushed slightly. "Y-Yeah! Of c-course we will!"

She never stuttered. Quistis gasped to herself. What was happening to her? She never stuttered, and especially not in front of Seifer. What has he done to her?

Good thing he didn't notice. Instead, he led her out the door and out another and eventually they ended up on the beach, the calming currents of seawater gently hitting the sandy ground once in a while. They had passed by Raijin, who was with Kiros and Ward at the grill back near the house. Laguna was quietly staring at the ocean while the loudness behind him, also known as the orphanage gang, split themselves up for War.

"We get Sis!" Selphie said above everyone else, holding the arm of a familiar black haired girl who looked about a little bit older than the others. She was not wearing her white skirt nor that green scarf, but instead, she wore denim capris and a light blue tank top.

"I don't get a say?" Ellone protested. "I want to choose!"

"I really don't want to play..." Squall said.

"Come on, it'll be fun! You never played War with us before!" Zell pointed out. "You'll enjoy it!"

After more organizing and arguing, the teams eventually came to this: Selphie, Squall, Ellone, and Irvine versus Zell, Seifer, Rinoa, and Quistis. Fujin sat out, intimidating the others with her voice to have herself not play along with them.

* * *

Raijin gave a sidelong glance at his friends on the beach, wondering why HE was the one stuck at the grill out of all people. He wasn't even the best person for the job. In fact, he SUCKED. Didn't anyone learn from the Balamb fish incident? Luckily, Ward and Kiros were around to help. They knew how to grill some good meat. The quarterstaff specialist stared at the uncooked meat on a plate on the table next to him and the two adults. He hadn't even started yet. He didn't want to mess this up, but somehow, he knew he would, anyway.

At least he's got a fire successfully going.

"Hey, Raijin, we can take it from here... I'm sure you'd want to hang with those friends of yours," Kiros spoke up after a moment of silence, noticing that the teenager didn't look thrilled about having to cook.

"It's all right, ya know," the muscled cadet replied.

"..." Ward said.

"Ward says that you wouldn't want to be stuck with a geezer such as me--waaait..." Kiros shot a glare at Ward, who had a big smile on his face.

Raijin laughed them off. "They don't need me, ya know..." he glanced at the teens down below. "They're already havin' fun... "

Kiros and Ward just looked at him.

"... Raijin... is something going on between you and your friends?" Kiros asked hesitantly.

Raijin didn't expect to hear that. He froze. How should he answer that? He wasn't used to confessing his problems to anybody, not even his old posse. "Nothing... ya know..."

"..."

"Ward wonders if you're really sure about that," Kiros explained, starting to look concerned. He grabbed a pair of tongs and moved a couple of hot dogs onto the grill.

"There's nothing no one should worry about," Raijin said in response. "Everything's good, ya know. I can't play War, anyway..."

"Rinoa's playing War."

"Eh, she doesn't count, ya know..."

"Something's wrong, Raijin. You can talk to us. We're all friends here."

___(I feel left out. I want them to look at me, ya know, notice me. I'm not just the big guy bringing up the rear of some group, ya know.)_

"..."

"Yeah, Ward's right. You'd feel better if you let it all out." Kiros set some finished hot dogs onto a different plate from the one with the uncooked meat on it.

(Maybe I should speak up next time... initiate something, ya know... but then would they listen?)

"I know we're adults and we probably don't understand young people like yourselves," the braided man continued, trying to coax Raijin into talking, "but... well, I know I seem like I'm prying too hard into personal matters..."

"Hey, ya know... I gotta head to the bathroom," Raijin interrupted, beginning to walk away from the men, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Um, oh. Okay..." Kiros blinked. "You know where it is?"

"Yeah, ya know." Raijin left quickly.

As he rushed away from the scene, to the "bathroom", he mused to himself. He didn't need this. He didn't need any adults trying to help him. He was getting pretty annoyed.

He slowed his pace, finding that he had made his way in a green field that seemed to contain no boundaries. He looked up at the sky. The sun was going to start setting soon. Raijin smiled to himself and began walking through the fields slowly, noticing that fresh, soft flowers in various pinks, yellows, and blues dotted the field. He was sure the others hadn't come back here yet... it was on the opposite side of the beach, their most populated area at the moment, and they hadn't been at the orphanage long.

A breeze blew past him. Raijin took in the reasonably fresh air and just sat himself down in the long grass, his muscled legs stretched out in front of him and his hands holding him up on the ground behind him. He stared up at the sky. Peace at last. He didn't need to worry about loneliness here. No thoughts of being left out. No stereotyping him as a meatheaded loser or a criminal who helped an evil sorceress and a spiteful knight. None of that. No one can get hurt here.

"Ya know..." he murmured to himself, watching the clear sky slowly turned into a shade of orange. He laid back on his backside, putting his hands behind his head as support. "Life shoulda been this easy... easy as the world's regular routine. Sunrise... sunset... a bit of rain... a bit of snow..."

Perhaps Raijin should let his friends know how he felt. Well, they were buddies after all. He should be able to trust them and support him and everything. It's worth a try. Better than faking happiness like he had been all this time.

"Sorry, Rai. Maybe next time we'll hang."

That's what Seifer and Fujin say every time. Social dates with every other friend but him? He was always the one stuck in his dorm with nothing else to do but study and train.

He was losing them. In a way, he was losing his posse.

___(At least that all let my grades shoot up, ya know,)_ he thought sarcastically.

"There you are!"

Raijin realized that his eyes had been shut. He opened them and saw that Rinoa was bending over, looking at him with an amused but at the same time worried expression. "Rinoa," Raijin greeted her.

"Where were you? We've got food ready and the sun's setting. C'mon!"

Raijin silently thanked her for her kindness. He helped himself up and dusted himself off of stray grass and petals. "All right, ya know..."

___(Maybe this was all in my head... I haven't tried hard enough to accept the entire group...)_

* * *

"Ewwww..." Selphie cried disgustedly, looking at Squall's hot dog as they sat side by side on a blanket on the beach. The sun was still setting, disappearing behind the darkening seas. Rinoa had just gotten back, bring with her Raijin, who had been missing for some time. Edea and Cid had brought out the blankets and Seifer had volunteered to start a fire. Zell and Laguna had vanished into the house to bring out the necessary condiments and a small, folding table for the napkins, the plastic plates, plastic cups, and plastic utensils. Kiros and Ward brought out the meat and the buns, and everyone happily dug in.

"You put MAYONNAISE on it?!"

Squall looked offended. "What? What's wrong with mayonnaise on hot dogs, Sef?"

"That's gross!"

"Hey, no it's not," he argued quietly. "You put mustard on yours. That's disgusting."

"It's on yours, too, you idiot!" She stuck her tongue out. She pointed to his hot dog. "See?"

"Oh. Damn. Didn't notice..." He took a sip from his bottle of LemonLime XploSion (another popular soft drink). "Oh, well..." To his dismay, Selphie punched him on the shoulder playfully and laughed at him.

"Hey, guys."

The couple looked up at the direction of the voice.

Laguna.

He was standing there with them in the evening sky, looking down at the teenagers with a faint smile. The two could see that behind him was the rest of the group, choosing their dinner at the table.

Squall took one look at the president and glared. The commander slowly turned his head away from his father, quietly continuing to eat his hot dog.

"Sir Laguna!" Selphie quipped, standing up immediately. "Having fun?"

"Sefie..." Squall growled from below her. "Let's go see the others--"

"Nonsense, Squall!" she cut in pointedly as he stood up. She knew why he wanted to leave; she wasn't clueless. She took a hold of his arm tightly to prevent his escape. "We have some catching up to do with Sir Laguna!"

Laguna quirked an eyebrow. "Selphie, I know that--"

"Selphie--" Squall began at the same time, his eyes flashing angrily. The Trabian cringed inwardly. He hardly never used her real name anymore. "I don't want this now... I don't." He pulled his hand out of her grasp roughly, causing her to teeter back slightly.

"Hey, you know..." Laguna started, chuckling uneasily. "I get it. I get that I'm a bastard for not coming back for you, Squall." His expression slowly turned to one of frustration. "But guess what? I'm fed up with your attitude toward me. It's not fair, especially if--"

"Not my problem," Squall answered quietly, cutting him off. "Go tell this to someone who actually cares."

The man opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it, as if giving up. " Well, I didn't even want to talk to you at this moment," Laguna went on. "Kiros and Edea made me come here. I'm tired of caring. Because I'm starting not to... not if this bastard I call my son is acting like a cold-hearted ass who can't love anyone. This sweet girl doesn't deserve you."

Squall stared hard at him. He couldn't figure out why, but that comment hit home... yet, he wouldn't let himself break. "You don't know what you're talking about." ___(What's wrong with me? Why do I care if he doesn't?)_

"Uh..." Selphie spoke up, gulping. "Hey..."

"I know exactly what I'm talking about," Laguna replied evenly.

"Funny how an idiotic moron like you would." He started turning, heading to Seifer, Ellone, and the others (minus Zell, Edea, and Cid), who were starting to make their way to the fire. "Come on, Sef," he barked.

She didn't move. She stood there, confused as to what to do next. "B-But Squall..." she broke in weakly.

Laguna snorted and started heading in the direction of the lighthouse. "Don't worry, Selphie." He put a hand on her shoulder. "It's all right... no kin of mine acts like that. I can't really consider him my son, after all. I don't want this pathetic, hardheaded kid."

Selphie gasped slightly, whirling her head to face Laguna. "Sir Laguna... you don't mean that." She watched his face against the light of the fire. He didn't look like he regretted his words.

Ouch. That unexpectedly really hurt Squall. He froze, clenching his fists at his side. His heart panged, but he didn't know why. He didn't care! Laguna could never be a dad to him! Headmaster was more fatherly than the president could ever be!

But why were Laguna's words repeating in his head like a horrific mantra? Squall sighed, forcing it out of his system, becoming aware of the presences of the rest of the crew.

In the dead silence, Laguna moved past Squall and continued his trek to the lighthouse as if nothing happened. Selphie stared after him, her face saddened. She headed toward Squall and stood next to him, looking up at him. To her surprise, she found a disappointed look on his face as he watched his father disappear into the night.

Ellone, Seifer, Fujin, Quistis, Raijin, Rinoa, Kiros, Ward, nor Irvine wanted to pry into whatever happened then, so they stayed silent.

"You brought this upon yourself, Squall," Selphie whispered to him. "You should've listened. You never gave him the chance..." She looked down at the sand.

Squall didn't say anything. He entertwined his fingers within hers, trying to find comfort there.

___(Comfort? For what? I won't let Laguna bring me down.)_

"Yo!"

Every person on the beach (except Laguna, of course) turned toward the rocky steps, finding that Zell, smiling like crazy, was standing at the top of them with Edea and Cid, holding up a large brown paper bag. Some cylindrical objects where protruding from the top of them, and orphanage gang could only guess what they were.

The angsty atmosphere forgotten, Seifer's face brightened. "Whatcha got there, Chicken-wuss?"

"Yooo, call me that again and I won't tell!" Zell jumped down the stairs and ran to his comrades. The Kramers followed calmly after.

"We thought it would be nice to re-enact a memory," Edea said to everyone. "I hope you guys remember." She linked her arm through Cid's, and together, they walked to the fire.

Rinoa was the first to reach Zell. She squealed as she peeked into the bag. "Fireworks!" she proclaimed, taking one out. She jumped up and down. "Awesome!"

"There's one for everyone, I hope!" Ellone remarked as she reached Rinoa and Zell. She grabbed one for herself, a shiny blue and green one. She frowned for a second, remembering that her Uncle Laguna was off by himself... but she knew these rare moods of his. He demands solitude. In fact, he was almost as bad as Squall. She took another one, for her "uncle"... just in case. "This one's for Uncle," she said, more to herself than to the others.

Selphie and Squall were the last to make their way to Zell to get their fireworks, in time to hear Ellone's mumbling. "Shouldn't we go after him, Sis?" Selphie asked her.

Ellone jumped a little and turned to the nunchaku specialist. "I recommend you don't... " she smiled uncertainly. "Uncle Laguna hardly acts like this. He needs time to himself for a while."

Squall narrowed his eyes at Selphie. "Why do you care so much, anyway, Sef?"

___(Why is he being so irrational?!)_ she thought irritatedly. Selphie was set to argue with him, but it would ruin the mood with the fireworks and stuff. "Never mind..." She put on a smile and scampered after the others, taking Squall with her. "Let's go!"

"Sefie--" he started indignantly.

"What?" She stopped and gave him a look. A "don't-ruin-this-perfect-time-Matron-set-aside-for-us" look.

He sighed. "... Nothing."

"Good!" She (towing Squall with her) raced her way over to Irvine, who was surrounded by the rest of the gang as he lit a gold metallic one with a fiery twig from their fire. Their matron and headmaster joined them soon after.

Irvine sent the fireworks to the skies, toward the ocean. "That's for Xu," he spoke up solemnly.

Everyone quietly watched as an explosion of different colors lit up the night sky. The first fireworks of the night... and they belonged to Xu. She deserved it, being so underappreciated for so long... shoved out of the way because of Squall and the others' feats and victories. She had this now, the most beautiful display of all, revealed that way as the other fireworks joined in with hers.

And then a memory came alive in the orphanage gang's minds. That time they got caught by their matron using those fireworks after Zell told on them. Although all that happened, that night and that moment was something to remember, because for once, they got along, even Seifer.

Selphie leaned against Squall, sour moods forgotten, and wrapped her arms around his waist, not taking her eyes off of the sky after they lit their fireworks. In turn, Squall put his arm comfortably around her, a bare hint of a smile on his face. Irvine stood nearby, glancing at them, grinning in happiness for them, even though his hidden selfishness knew otherwise.

Rinoa sat down on the beach, Raijin and Zell on either side of her, standing up proudly at their accomplishment of sending a couple of those brilliant displays into the night.

Fujin had just lit hers. She jogged to the edge of the sea and put the flaming end of her twig in, putting it out. She dropped it and looked to the sky as hers flew up their to join some of the other ones. She saw out of the corner of her eye Quistis sending hers off, with Seifer next to her, laughing merrily. Ellone was there too, teasing Seifer about something. He got mad and playfully started chasing her around. Quistis, always thinking of safety first, told them to watch where they were going.

Kiros and Ward simply hung back, just wanting to see the heroes simply act like children again, away from the harsh real world.

Cid and Edea still had a few fireworks left, so they lit those. As Edea did that job, Cid glanced at his foster children and those who legally weren't but felt like they should be. Even though he was hardly home when they were younger, he could still tell that a lot of them have grown up for the better. They have matured (to an extent) but still kept their hearts young, just for times like this. The nine of them, plus Ellone, shared a bond. And that bond tightened that night.

It cannot break.

Soon, all the fireworks were gone. Everyone either sat or stood, but all the same, they watched in silent awe at the bright colors illuminating the dark sky.

Well, one was still unused. Ellone looked down at Laguna's as she started drifting in the direction of the lighthouse. It was dark, but in the moonlight, the twinkling of the stars, and the bright lights coming from the orphanage house, she could still make out objects in the dark. Looking behind her, she noted that the others didn't seem to notice her absence. They were sitting around the fire on blankets and the sand. They seemed to be telling stories. She took a moment to smile at them before proceeding.

* * *

Somewhere near the base of the lighthouse, Laguna sat with his back against a boulder near the water. He had taken his flip-flops off, placing them beside him. He let the edges of the water tickle his feet peacefully as he watched the night sky and the spectacular display of the fireworks. His mind had been on Squall for a while. Maybe it had been wrong of him to just bluntly say all those things when he didn't mean them; he wasn't thinking right...

Yeah, maybe.

Laguna shook his head. What had gotten into him? Did his feelings of blind hurt override his straight, focused thinking? Did he really have to make his son feel bad and then just walk away?

Squall did the same thing, didn't he? He wouldn't feel bad. He didn't even care.

He smirked in spite of himself. ___(Like father, like son...)_ he thought.

A sudden shuffle behind him brought him to attention. He turned around, looking behind the rock and noticed that his "niece" stood there timidly, holding two fireworks. Laguna greeted her cheerfully. "Hey, Ell, what brings way over here?"

"Well, there was one for you... and I haven't lit mine up yet... and..."

"I seemed lonely," Laguna finished for her. He looked toward the water. "I guess I do..."

She handed him one of the fireworks. She let out a cry as she did so, as if realizing something. "Oh, Uncle Laguna, I didn't think to bring anything to light it up--"

"Ah, don't worry about it," he replied, waving her off. "I have matches in my pocket."

"... What are you doing with matches in your pocket?"

He laughed and stood up, brushing sand off the back of his khaki pants. "I don't know. Just in case, I guess." He took out a box of matches from his back pocket and opened it up. He glanced at Ellone briefly before handing one to her, but he froze, seeing two moonlit figures behind her. He dropped it into her open palm distractedly. Ellone caught his stare and turned around to follow it. "Sefie... Squall..." she spoke up, surprised.

Selphie came closer to them, revealing herself more under the moon's light. "Squall... has to talk to his father." She turned to him and pulled him by the hand so that he stood beside her. The commander refused to look at anyone, keeping his gaze to the side.

Laguna stepped in front of his son, giving him a calm look as he stuck his hands in his pockets. He was going to do it right this time. He needed to think straight... he needed to consider Squall's feelings, even if he might not have any toward him. He was going to try harder this time... out of his own will. He will get his son back. "Squall... we... I need to explain something to you."

As if biting back a sarcastic remark, Squall finally glanced at his dad with weary blue-grey eyes and crossed his arms, letting out an inward sigh. "I... figured you did."

___(So far so good. Come oooonnn, Squall! Gooooo Sir Laguna!)_ she rooted as she watched the two have a rare civil conversation.

"Let's go back, Sefie. I'm hungry," Ellone spoke up, hinting heavily to the Trabian that they should leave the family alone for a bit.

She didn't get it but agreed anyway. "Mmkay!" She waved at Laguna and Squall. "Come back when you guys are through!" She sped off, with Sis in tow.

___(That was obvious,)_ Squall thought, watching the girls leave out of the corner of his eye. ___(Leaving me here alone with the president of Esthar... my father.)_

When they were out of sight, Laguna spoke up. "Squall? Um.. I'm... sorry..." he scratched the back of his head nervously. "I didn't mean to say all that stuff... I was just kinda... never mind."

Squall gave him a curt nod. "Is that all?" He was ready to say "I forgive you" and leave. He didn't want to talk to Laguna. He wasn't... ready.

___(Ready? Is that the right word? It makes me sound as thought I give a crap about this man.)_

"No... that's not all," Laguna answered slowly. "I didn't explain... it well..."

Squall suddenly narrowed his eyes at the president. "You left me alone, Loire."

Laguna wasn't going to back down from Squall's icy exterior. He firmly placed his hands on his son's shoulders. "I didn't know you existed, Squall. I couldn't "go back" if I thought I didn't have a place to go get something I didn't know about."

Squall shrugged his dad's hands off of him and wandered to the water, staring down at it as if he had never seen it before. "How could you not know about me?"

Laguna shrugged. "You saw my past... but also..." he seemed to be having trouble saying this, "Raine never told me... she didn't tell me about you. I guess Ellone didn't know either, otherwise she would've spilt it just like that."

"..."

"If I had known, I would have come back for you... you know I would have."

The brunet turned toward him again, sticking his hands in his pants pockets. "Why didn't my mother tell you?"

"... Maybe with all the stuff going on with Adel, she didn't want me to worry more than I could handle... I don't quite know, Squall." Laguna closed his eyes, as if reminiscing something. "Raine... she was selfless... didn't want me to worry, wanted me happy..." He opened his eyes again, staring hard at the ground.

To Squall's suprise, he found tears of remorseful pain forming at the corners of his father's eyes. He had never seen him like this before. "L-Loire?"

"I wasn't there, son... I wasn't there for either of you that August..." Laguna whispered brokenly. dropping to his knees. He clenched fistfuls of sand and shook his head slowly. "I let her die... she died without me, son. I left her to die alone and I left you without any paternal love."

Squall winced at the word son. In fact, that wince was for this entire moment. Squall didn't even think about his father's feelings. He didn't even consider what he had gone through. He thought he had seen everything with those time travel trips Ellone put him and his friends through, but he had missed this part entirely. Laguna's guilt. Laguna's wish for a normal family life. Squall had been so self-absorbed in his own feelings of misunderstood resentment that he was only considerate of a selective number of people's emotions.

Now the president was breaking down in front of him. All along he had been strong in front of Squall, pretending that the coldness didn't mean a thing. And Squall? He didn't even listen to what his dad had to say.

___(Loire... Dad... I'm... a moron... I'm sorry... I didn't even think...)_

After a long, long moment of thinking, Squall squatted down next to Laguna. "Lo--Father..." He didn't know what to say... in fact, he didn't know why he felt he needed to say something in the first place. He knew that he have a swelling feeling of guilt if he didn't, and he was a little... just a little frightened and concerned at the fact that Laguna was suddenly a nervous wreck, sobbing over something of the distant past.

Maybe he did care after all.

"... Father... it's not your fault..." Squall spoke up again, the words sounding foreign to him. "It's--I--I'm sorry... D...Dad!"

Laguna gasped, staying still for a second before he looked at Squall. "W-What did you say?" His eyes were as wide as saucers, as if he had just seen some sort of miracle.

Squall couldn't speak. ___(What now?)_

But he didn't have to think about that for long, for Laguna suddenly latched onto his offspring in a hurtfully fierce hug. "Oh, my boy!!" Laguna exclaimed, sobbing tears of joy this time. "My little boy--"

Squall was about to protest at this nickname, but bit his tongue. This was the president's moment, not his. He awkwardly patted the machine gun specialist on the back. "Uh... Dad."

Laguna let him go, now looking at him with joy in his eyes and his smile. "Let's go shoot my fireworks, Squally."

Squall glared. "Only Sefie can call me Squally." ___(Even though I preferred she didn't, either... but she wouldn't give in...)_

Laguna patted his son on the back hard. Squall almost toppled forward, but regained balance just in time. "It's SEFIE now, eh? We have a LOT of catching up to do," the older man said peacefully. "We need make this family work, right?"

Squall wouldn't dare manifest this, but still, he smiled a little at the idea. "Yeah."

A breeze blew past them, unknown whispers of Raine's loving and relieved voice caressing their hair and skin.

* * *

_**A/N:** __WTF?! They took away the asterisks and the underscrolls!! GRR. UNCOOL!_

___This has nothing to do with anything, but have any of you guys seen **Naruto**? It's an anime about ninjas and stuff like that. It's so baller. The manga is licensed here, but I haven't read it; I've only seen the show, which **isn't** licensed here. One of the band directors at my high school (the young, cool director that everyone likes, lol) said he didn't like it and that it was too kiddy for him. DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!! XD_

**R to da E-VIEWS!! (okay, that was lame, shut up. XD)**

**Aramaring:** Dirty? Me...? Aw, you jest! ... wow... maybe the best Squelphie on the site? Are you serious? O.o My story? Thanx... thanx very much. That was incredibly flattering. XD

**The Days of the Phoenix:** Lol, you and your lack of sleep. BTW, my sleeping schedule is so screwed up these days. Damn lazy days of summer. . Steamy?! I'm a good girl. REALLY. X3

**Yuffie Kisaragi2:** Hmm... chapters right away? O.o too much brain power, but I'm updating this (and trying to write my other stories) as fast as I can without killing brain.Haha.

**Rising Fenix:** ...Hmmm... and I thought I sucked at descriptions... XD Thank you for reviewing!

**SkippyChick:** Yes... YES, there must be more Squall-Selphie fics. MORE... DAMMIT. X3

**I'm just a person:** Sorry, don't know any Squalphie sites... I do know that if you look up CuteMooglez's profile, you'll find that they have a site that includes a couple of Squalphie fanart. .

**Chain-M:** Good better best one?? O.o Thank you? Lol, anyway, I saw your story and read it. I even reviewed! Good job so far!


	9. VIII: Amor Mio

**A/N:** _QuickEdit fucking sucks! The formatting never turns out the way I want it to... I'ma hafta tweak the rating up a bit. It's not going to be R, but I'm just saying that there's a lot of making out in this chapter. Not that I'm dirty or anything. NoOoOoOo... I'm as innocent as an... angel. And plus, I put the word 'fuck' in the story too many times. XD Well, anyway, the rating will be more like... PG-15-ish. That'll do, right? Hey! I'm not trying to scare away the younger readers, either! Keep reading! X3 bah, I'm not making any sense, am I? -.-;;;. Oh, and in this chapter, there will be some FFVI stuff (the opera) plugged in. FFVI and the opera are not mine... so there. The aria is sooo pretty, though... yeah. But anyway, to sum this all up..._

_-- QuickEdit sux  
-- Pitye Good Girl  
-- Rating PG-15...ish  
-- Everyone can still read this!! XD (psst, and review, too!!)  
-- FFVI's Aria di Mezzo Carattere song and opera... are in this chapter and NOT MINE._

_Okay, that's enough stalling! On with ze story! YEAH! pumps fist into the air_

_Dammit, the chapter's huge again!! . Sorry guys... and here... there's a lot of REVOLUTION._

_Okay, one more thing. I don't know who originally sings "Seasons in the Sun"... I have the original version, but it wasn't labeled correctly... I have the Westlife version, too... and the lyrics are the same, anyway..._

* * *

**Maybe It Could Work  
by: Elcyion Pitye**

* * *

**VIII. Amor Mio**

_  
Good-bye to you, my trusted friend.  
We've known each other since we were nine or ten.  
Together we've climbed hills and trees  
Learned of love and ABC's,  
Skinned our hearts and skinned our knees..._

Squall had just been informed by Quistis that the SeeD candidates' field exam was to be held on the first full week of March rather than in the middle of April, like it had always been when Squall and Quistis had been students themselves.

It was February.

He was leaning over his desk. Quistis was standing in front of it, looking calm and composed, but her eyes said she was a little on the stressed side.

"The committee says that with the surprise attacks from the terrorists, we should have our people ready... just in case," she said, merely repeating what the Garden Scholastic Committee said in their meeting during the lunch periods.

"That's... bullshit," Squall commented bitterly. "I don't think the students are ready to take any exams in March. I don't think even you covered everyhting yet for the written one, even."

"True," Quistis replied, adjusting her glasses, "but... well, the committee has the final word..."

"Why am I not part of this committee? I'm the commander of this damn place."

"Because this is the student body, not the squads of SeeD. You only concern yourself with--"

"Well, most of these people are _training_ to be SeeD."

Quistis shrugged, unable to argue. "I don't know, Squall. Garden's administration is pretty messed up, I admit. But we have to face the music. We aren't in charge in some departments."

Squall mumbled a "whatever" and then said louder, "What did Headmaster say about this?"

"He said that he sees the committee's point."

"And?"

"That's about it."

"Hn." _(Some Headmaster we have...)_ Squall sighed tiredly. "Fine... well... I guess we have to make sure we have everything prepared by March's approach..." Squall sat back down in his rolling desk chair.

Quistis started heading for the door. She craned her neck slightly. "_You_ have to organaize what the field exam will be. You know what, right?"

_(No.)_ "... Yeah." It felt like a ten-ton weight had been put on his shoulders. _(Shit.)_

"Okay, well... good luck, Commando." She grinned mischievously and left.

Squall sat down and gazed blankly at his desk. A packet of papers concerning the SeeD exam stared back at him tauntingly. He should do it as soon as possible. He grunted at the papers and let his forehead hit the desk with a small thud. Closing his eyes, Squall forced his mind to think of something happy and peaceful, but was unsuccessful. He was tired. He was bored. All those burdens and things were getting him angry but lethargic.

He heard the door slide open again. He prayed that it wasn't Quistis or some other faculty person. He didn't want to handle any of that for the rest of the day.

Squall, who didn't feel like lifting his head up, listened as small footsteps walked up beside him and stop.

"Aw, having a bad day, Squally?"

_(Sefie.)_

He heard her go behind him, now recognizing the sound of her boots scurrying across the carpet. He felt her hands on his shoulders, slowly massaging them. As if by magic, Squall opened his eyes and lifted his head, giving in to the wonderful feeling of a massage. He couldn't resist a satisfied sigh as he looked up at her gratefully.

Selphie stopped and peered down at him, smiling. "Feel better now?"

"Hmm?" It took a moment for Squall to register the question.

Oh.

He felt fine. Awesome.

Suddenly energized.

"I feel good," he answered softly, swinging around in his chair so that he was facing her. Selphie giggled and started running her hands through his silky, mahogany-colored hair. "What's wrong?" she asked him, her tone more serious than her expression.

He frowned and began explaining what Quistis had just told him.

Selphie pouted. "That's a super-duper-mega-bummer! Why would they want that?! The SeeDs this year will be less trained!"

"I know..."

The two drifted into silence, staring at each other... a mutual silence...

Starting to feel a little restless, Squall stood up. "So..." he began.

"Do you have paperwork?" she asked.

He glanced at his desk and the packets and files and... yeah. "... No."

"Woo-hoo!" She latched on to Squall. "Mmkay! Let's help me run lines!!"

"..."

"... Squally?"

Something came over Squall and he couldn't explain it. He looked down at her, a huge, swelling feeling moving into his heart. He lifted a gloved hand to brush his thumb over her bottom lip.

Her hand came up and wrapped around his wrist. She gazed up at him in a serious manner, trying to figure out what he wanted. Sometimes she could be so naive.

There was a lot Squall wanted to do at that moment. He was trying his hardest to suppress it.

_(It? What is "it"?)_

Selphie lowered both her and his hands back to their respective sides. She smirked jokingly at him. "You're being so weird today!"

Squall bit his lip. _(Crap, I can't take this anymore...)_

"I think you need to see Dr. Kado--IYAA!"

Squall pinned her to the nearest wall, his mouth on hers as quick as lightning. He held her arms against the wall, shamelessly crushing his body to hers.

_(Wow,)_ Selphie thought in awe when they parted breathlessly moments later. She looked up into blue-grey eyes. _(Tee-hee, sexy...)_

"Squall..." Being in his arms made her want to melt. She put her hands on his chest, holding onto handfuls of his shirt to keep herself from falling due to weakened knees.

Squall detached himself from her and removed his gloves, dropping them to the floor near them. Selphie tugged at his jacket meaningfully. He took that off, too, leaving him in his well-fitted white shirt.

He leaned in close, setting his hands on her hips--

That was precisely when Selphie put her hands on his shoulders and shoved him away. "I think that's enough for today..." She grinned, knowing it was going to kill him. Truthfully, she wanted some more action going on, but it was just too much fun teasing him like this.

Squall frowned in disbelief and kissed her mouth briefly. "I don't think so..." he whispered, his lips grazing hers.

"Well, I think so, Squally," she replied, pulling her head away.

His mouth went to her right shoulder as he pushed the yellow strap off a bit. "Whatever."

She fought a hard blush. _(EEP, SQUALL!)_ "Squall Leonhart! I said stop!" She pinched his bare arm fiercely.

He let out a small cry and repelled away from his girlfriend, putting his hand over the bruise that was starting to form. "Sefie..." he glared.

Suddenly she laughed.

"... What now?"

She literally jumped onto him in a fierce hug, her arms swinging around his shoulders and her legs wrapping around his waist. "I've never seen that side of you before!"

"What side?" he asked, putting his arms around her to keep from dropping her.

"Your seductive side," she purred, pecking him on the neck.

That forced a grin on his face. "You said no more for today."

She pulled away to look at him, a mischievous glint in her eye. "Change my mind." With that, Selphie angled her head toward his and kissed him slowly and sensuously.

The door suddenly slid open. "Yo, Squall--" Zell froze when he saw the couple sharing an intimate moment. _(Gag,)_ he thought disgustedly. _(Didn't need to see any of that...)_

The two spotted the martial artist and leaped away from each other, looking embarrassed.

"Zelly!" Selphie greeted him cheerfully. She laughed uneasily, stealing a glance at her boyfriend out of the corner of her eye.

Squall gave Zell an aggravated look. "Learn to knock, Zell," He told his shorter friend.

"Well, sorry! I meant to, but I guess I stepped too close to the door. Damn thing opened on its own!"

Squall sighed, not wanting to argue. "What do you want?"

"Official dates of Exam Week... what are they?"

"What the hell, Dincht?! I just found out about this shit less than an hour ago!"

Zell raised his hands up in defeat. "Hey, hey! I'm just delivering messages here. The Committee called saying they wanted a decision now. Headmaster told me to tell you."

"I wish _he_ would make some damn decisions like this on his own." _(Why does everyone depend on me?!)_ he thought with rage. Squall went to his desk and slumped into his chair. "Can't those bastards wait? I _really_ don't want to handle this all at once."

Selphie continued to stand by silently, looking at Squall sympathetically.

Zell paused. "I'll... see what I can do about that." He saluted loosely and hurried away.

"The terrorists..." Squall murmured after Zell left. "Do you... think some people know something we don't? That's why they dumped this all on us suddenly?" He looked at her, his expression almost troubled.

She cast her eyes down and answered, her voice somber. "I think there are a lot of things being hidden from us, Squall."

He continued to gaze at her, his mind somewhere else. He was tired... he was always tired... and it didn't help that he was also committed to someone. He wasn't getting enough sleep... maybe he wasn't made for commander after all... He let his mind drift further and further away...

_"Squall!"_

_He was looking down at her now. Selphie, tattered and weak from some kind of battle. At his side, one hand was gripping his Armageddon gunblade tightly._

_A battle with him? Where was everyone else?_

_He saw that her emerald green eyes were desperate, pleading. For some reason, the only thing going through his mind was his desire to kill her._

_What was going on?_

_"Squall... don't... please!! Remember me!" She grabbed the front of his shirt, her eyes glassy. "Squally! Don't... kill me..."_

_At the sound of the word "kill", the arm that held the weapon rose slightly. He didn't say anything to her._

_"You..." her voice became quiet, "You told me that I belonged with you... Squall..." She stepped closer, not letting him go. "So... you belong with me...! Always! Squall! Do you hear me?!"_

_He backed away from her slightly. He raised his gunblade so that it was pointing at her._

_Selphie gasped slightly. "Don't..." she whispered._

_In one quick, dizzying motion, he thrust the weapon forward, an evil grin spreading across his face._

_"I love you..." were the last words that came out of her before he stabbed Armageddon violently through her stomach._

Squall blinked with a big start, breathing hard. Selphie, who had been staring down at her boots, looked up, startled.

"Squall?!" She stared up at him in worry. "Squally? What's wrong? You're sweating..."

He stared down at her, grabbing her shoulders. "Sefie."

"Yes?" She frowned. Something was wrong... "What is--"

"How long was I... gone?"

"Gone? We were only silent for a few seconds... you were... gone?"

"You're okay," he said in relief, more to himself than to her.

"What happened?!" she questioned impatiently. She grabbed a tissue from the tissue box on his desk and started wiping his forehead.

"I had... this vision..." he told her, with the uneasiness that seemed very unlike him. "It felt... real. Like it was really happening... but it also went by so fast... too fast..."

"...What?!" Selphie looked confused.

_(I shouldn't tell her...)_ Squall thought grimly, realizing something. _(I don't have time to have her worried about me. And this vision might scare her...)_

"N-Nothing," he said finally, going back to his chair. His voice was much calmer now. "It was just... a nightmare from... never mind, it's nothing."

_(It's probably not a big deal, anyway.)_

Selphie gave him a disapproving look and tossed the tissue into the trash bin. She preferred it if he told her, but maybe she didn't have to know _everything_ about him...

"Okay..." She looked at the papers on his desk. "I'll... leave you to your work, then." She smiled.

The corners of Squall's lips turned up slightly as he glanced back at her. "Okay."

After a second of stalling, she walked out of his office.

The commander stared at the closed door for a while, having second thoughts about dismissing his supposed day-mare.

* * *

Azul sat near the edge of a cliff of the green forests of Esthar, letting the wind blow through his raven-hued hair. He and Ciel (with the additional company of Bethe and Jarek) were trekking through Esthar, toward the futuristic city itself. They, in their terrorist scouting group, were on a mission to find a way (within the city) to get even more increased powers... powers up to par with a sorceress', and destroy so they can call the world their own. There was enough of their faction to be able to start the world over.

Their way.

Their main enemy was SeeD and possibly the sorceress, for they were extremely powerful, and REVOLUTION wasn't the strongest group on earth. He had doubted REVOLUTION's plans and objectives and successes for some time, but he just didn't have the guts to break away. It was too late, anyway... he will die soon.

He knew Ciel was getting very suspicious. Ever since he junctioned Reaper a few years back, bad things have been happening to him, and she could only deduce that it was the GF's fault... but...

He couldn't tell her the truth... that in reality... he was unable to un-junction the GF, and it was slowly killing him. And when he went on his first solo mission in Esthar, a couple years ago, he ended up in the hospital because of a sickness no one could explain and that Odine looked at him for researching purposes.

Then Odine discovered the truth about Reaper. A Dark Force.

And Azul just couldn't tell his best friend.

She had been friends with him for a long time... since they were kids and had actually been part of the Garden program, until they broke away.

Azul sighed. He would be forever burdened with Reaper. The pain he had with the DF junctioned to him was eating at him slowly, almost literally. And in slowly increasing, elongating intervals, it was devouring him, body and soul, inside out. At first, they only stung a little, and those were easily ignored, but as time went by, he found that he could feel the pain throughout his entire body. EVERY PART. He had learned to keep a straight face around the others, especially Ciel, because he would only be a hindrance, and he wanted to get his missions done.

Still, it was getting harder, because the pains were increasing dramatically now. He didn't know how long he would last.

"Jarek says we're moving on now."

Azul hesitated, looking into Ciel's lavender orbs as she appeared. "Yeah?" he answered.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What's wrong?"

_(Damn, she's fast.)_ Azul muttered a "nothing" and turned back toward the horizon, the late afternoon sun. He started his musing again, this time thinking of REVOLUTION.

"You know, I'm doubting my wanting to be part of this..." he said without thinking. He didn't mean to say it out loud, but still, Ciel always understood him.

"I've noticed," she said quietly, coming up behind him to enjoy the view he was seeing. "Since autumn... I've seen you hesitate in our missions... as if you felt guilty... or something."

"I did." He and Ciel always kept a hard front during battle, in front of their enemies, but at other times, their emotions can be easily read through their facial expressions and actions.

She knew he didn't see it, but she smiled grimly. "I... did, also. When I killed those senators... I felt burdened..." She paused and then switched topics. "I followed you blindly, Azul... wherever you went, whatever you did, I was there and I did it, too. I've watched you..."

A smile sadly stretched across his face. A new feeling was creeping into his heart, and he knew what it was. "How long have you watched me, Ci?"

"Since we met..." Her voice drifted off, not ready to divulge her feelings.

"You didn't want to be part of this either, huh?" he asked her, refusing to face her. "You joined because of me... I'm sorry... I just... needed somewhere to belong... I was an orphan... and a failure at G-Garden... they made me destructively angry there... they took it so far that I dropped out and solemnly swore aloud that I would kill SeeD and Garden." Azul hung his head in shame. "I have too much pride to go back on my word..." He looked up at Ciel. "But you..."

"I made good grades..." she recalled distantly. "But... I needed... a place to belong to, too..." she looked down at him, her eyes softening. "I didn't belong in Garden if you weren't there too... I belong..." She didn't finish.

She didn't question herself on why her heart was responding so dramatically to these feelings. She had a bad feeling about something and had the need to delve these feelings soon.

Azul stood up, still staring out, still thinking. "Ciel..." he murmured. He was about to go on, but suddenly he choked, coughing and spitting up blood.

She stared at him in panic. "Azul!"

Unable to talk, he groaned and wrapped his arms around his stomach. He leaned forward, about to fall off the edge of the cliff, but Ciel grabbed him by the waist and with all of her weight, pulled the both of them back, Azul's weight shifting to her. She was successful in keeping him from falling, but it caused her to lose balance and fall on her backside, with Azul falling on top of her, face-up. He was still letting out cries of utter pain, his face scrunched together.

She moved out from under him and laid him down slowly on the rocky ground. Azul was breathing hard, gritting his teeth, trying not to scream out his agony. With one hand Ciel, grasped one of his. She grabbed a Curaga and put her hand on his chest, trying to heal him.

It didn't work. Ciel looked shocked. She quickly removed her hand from his chest and dug around one-handedly for a Remedy... she didn't have any Dispels or Esunas...

"D-Don't..." Azul grunted, his voice strained. He shifted his blue eyes onto her. "It...won't... w-work... Ci..." He took a deep breath. "Reaper won't... let me--"

"Don't talk!" she commanded. A thousand thoughts swirled in her head. _(Reaper won't let him?! I can't heal him?! What the fuck is he talking about?! What's going on?! What's wrong with Azul?!)_

He coughed again, spitting up more blood, and looked at her again, giving her hand a squeeze. "Ciel... I n-need to... tell you..." Suddenly, his face turned calm and his eyes closed.

She gasped, and then realized he only fainted. Sighing, Ciel leaned down and put one of his arms around her shoulders. Then she stood up slowly, putting the unconscious terrorist's weight against her as she dragged him back to camp.

* * *

Selphie let out an angry sigh and sat herself down on the stage, her legs dangling off the edge. She and Irvine were having a last minute, almost private rehearsal before the big day... which was in approximately nine hours, fifteen minutes, and twelve seconds, if she calculated the time correctly. Squall seemed so frazzled. She wanted to make him feel better with the best performance ever.

"I missed that B-flat!!" she huffed.

Irvine, who was supposed to be playing the piano for the play, shook his head. He and the piano were situated on the floor near the right corner of the stage. "Sef, don't be so nitpicky. That was just that one time you missed it..."

"But then I missed that C the time before... and--"

"Hey," he said over her, glancing at his best friend. He hit some random notes distractedly. "Don't fret about it, Sefie..." He shifted so that he was facing her, although she was at a higher place than he was.

"I want it to be perfect..."

Irvine caught that faraway look in her eyes. She was thinking about him... her boyfriend. "... For Squall, ya mean?" he asked her, a sad smile coming over his face.

She shot him a look, as if she were caught red-handed with something. "N-No! Not just him, Irvy..."

Irvine got up from the piano bench and jumped up on the stage so that he was sitting next to her now.

"Huh. Liar," he said to her. "You want to impress him."

Selphie looked over at him, realizing that Irvine may not be over his feelings for her. "S-Sorry..."

He patted her on the back. "Why th'hell ya apologizin' for? The guy wouldn't care if you couldn't sing through a paper bag. He still... loves... you." He was uncomfortable with the 'L' word, but nevertheless, he kept going. "And you don't need to be careful around me when it comes to Squall... you two are good for each other... like I said before, y'all look like you've been datin' forever."

She could see that his smile was almost forced. He was trying to give up his feelings for her sake. As if they never existed. She didn't know what to say to his words. Selphie's feet began kicking back and forth, the heels of her boots hitting the front side of the stage. Normally, if she were doing something with Irvy, they would be talking and laughing nonstop. Normally they'd be loud and acting kind of stupid. Normally, they'd be acting like best friends. There was hardly a quiet moment between the two. But now, with all the drama that went on, Selphie didn't feel as comfortable with her best friends as before. She didn't know how Squall came to fall for her, and she didn't know how Irvine suddenly reciprocated her former feelings for the cowboy, but all of that happened and now her relationships with some of her friends changed. She hated it. Selphie wanted it to be like old times. She needed to speak up.

"Irvy--" she broke in, interrupting the silence. She stared at her feet. She couldn't look at him, especially when she had something serious to say to him.

"Sefie," he uttered, almost simultaneously, keeping his eyes out in front of him. "I admit I'm jealous of what Squall has... and I admit that I sometimes yell at myself for not realizing my feelings for you sooner, but... I want to be happy for you... hell, I _am_ happy for you." Finally, he faced her with focused violet eyes. "Because... you're my best friend, and I know that all the stuff that happened between you, Squall, Seifer, and me mighta marred... I dunno, something."

Her eyes widened, impressed. That was the deepest thing Irvine had ever said... EVER. After staring frozen at the Galbadian for what felt like eternity, Selphie opened her mouth to apologize for the recent barriers between the friendships, but Irvine spoke up again.

"We have walls put up, Sefie," he told her. "You and me... it..."

"...hasn't been the same," she finished for him. She continued to gaze at her dangling feet. "I know. I... hate it."

He raised an eyebrow at her. He had never heard her express something she hated before.

"I want it to be like before," she continued, averting her gaze even lower so that she was staring at her yellow-clad lap. "I want us to have our Sefie-Irvy evenings where we go out somewhere and then race back to Garden right at curfew... I want us to laugh endlessly at stupid things again... things that no one else will get..."

"... and pull pranks on the others..." he added softly. "Seifer used to be one of _us_ back at the orphanage... and he's been wanting to join us in our... adventures... but we haven't done anything..."

"I mean, I know with the festival and Squall takes up some of my freetime..." Selphie finally, but shyly, looked up at Irvine. "But I miss some of that freetime taken up by my bestest friend in the world."

Irvine closed his eyes briefly... as if in thought. Then he opened them again, staring ahead. He laughed to himself softly. "Let's go," he muttered mystically.

"... Go?" Selphie was dumbfounded.

He hopped off the stage and turned to her, his hand extended. "I'll call Seif on my cell and we'll go out," he replied matter-of-factly.

"..." She stared at him in disbelief. "...NOW?! The show's tomorrow!!"

He smirked. "So? That never stopped ya before. Ya still have all day tomorrow to prepare. It's not like you or I hafta get up early or somethin'." He narrowed his eyes at her accusingly. "Don't tell me Darlin' Squally's gotten the fun outta ya already..."

After a thoughtful pause, she grinned devilishly and grabbed his still-extended hand, getting off the stage softly. "Irvy, get that phone out right now!"

"Yes, ma'am!" he exclaimed merrily.

* * *

The next morning (maybe around eleven or so), Squall heard music and singing when he walked up to his girlfriend's door. He chuckled in amusement and knocked loud enough for her to hear over her stereo.

Selphie, not really dressed to go anywhere in her pale green tank top and her yellow cotton shorts, answered immediately, still singing in her trained soprano voice. Smiling impishly, she grabbed his hands and pulled him in, the door sliding shut behind him.

She bounced to her stereo and turned the music off. She turned around to face Squall, secretly looking at him up and down. He was dressed differently that day. Instead of the white shirt, the gloves, and the leather jacket, he wore a form-fitting dark brown t-shirt and then brown leather pants. He wore his same boots and necklace, but those made him very attractive, too.

He glanced at her stereo. "Roaming Sheep, huh?"

"Totally awesome song!" she quipped. _(He seems better now than he did yesterday afternoon.)_

He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her forehead. "Whatever." Selphie reached up and planted a kiss on his lips, contented with his presence. Still in his arms, she led him to her bedroom.

At the door, he made the both of them stop. "Shouldn't you... be preparing for the Festival...?" He glanced warily down at her.

"Not until 13:00," she replied enthusiastically, kissing him again. "We have nearly a couple of hours to just mess around... and I've got everything ready..." She winked when she pulled him inside and turned him around. He found himself with his back to her bed and her directly in front of him. "No class today, Squally."

That made him grin a little.

"What's that smile for?" she teased impishly. After a moment of scrutinizing him, she smacked him on the arm. "You were thinking dirty things, weren't you?" she accused lightly, sticking her tongue out at him and taking her hand away from him. "I didn't think the mighty commander could be a closet pervert! Trying to de-flower me!"

She was about to add something else, but he interrupted.

"... You'd like that, wouldn't you?" he challenged softly, his arms around her again.

Selphie's jaw dropped. She didn't expect a comeback like _that_ from SQUALL LEONHART.

Without warning, Squall flopped down backward on Selphie's bed, taking the Trabian with him. She squeaked as he hit the mattress with her on top. He tightened his hold around her waist and reached over to lightly kiss her on the neck.

"Squaaaall!" she cried indignantly. Her head was next to his, tucked into his shoulder. The volume of her voice right next to his ear was a bit deafening.

"What?" He knew she was making a face.

They lay like that for a while.

Then he remembered something. "Hey..."

"Yes?" Selphie propped herself up with her hands as she straddled him.

He looked almost embarrassed. "Um... quit... flirting with my father."

Random.

She giggled at him.

He frowned. "Well, I just don't want... you know..."

"Tee-hee," she pecked him on the nose. "Jealous?"

He snorted, his hands, which were on her waist, sliding down to her hips. "...No."

"Yeah right, silly..." Her emerald eyes brightened with affection.

His expression softened. Squall reached up with one hand and gently pulled her head down to his own, his lips capturing hers passionately. Selphie slid down from her former position, her body molding against his. The kiss was long and full of indescribable desire, the taste of it lingering as they parted moments later.

Squall smiled a certain smile he reserved for Selphie alone. "How was your thing last night?"

Selphie had called Squall before she left with Irvine and Seifer to head to Crimson Fox. She thought he'd be wary of her going out with other guys just to hang, but he was fine with it. He trusted her.

"It was AWESOME!" she exclaimed, propping herself up again. She began recalling everything that happened, including where the three of them had to sneak back to Garden with incredible stealth (like spies!), for they ended up being out way past curfew.

He smirked. "Be lucky I don't get you guys in trouble for that..."

"Oh, yeah, you're part of the Garden's _faculty_," she quipped sarcastically.

Squall craned his neck to glance at her alarm clock. He had been here for a long while. He looked back up at Selphie. "You're not worried about the play?" he asked. "You're not panicked...?"

An odd look suddenly came over her face, as if his words suddenly struck her with the nervousness she wasn't happy about feeling at all. "I... should go check on everything on the Quad... and the musicians... and the cast... and the crew... and everything for the after-party..." she looked worried, and from looking in her eyes, he could see she was a little frantic on the inside.

"You worked too hard on this. It will be fine."

"Thank you, Squall." She knew he was still uncomfortable with comforting others, but he was getting better. That made her heart swell with pride.

"I love you," she murmured softly, almost shyly.

Squall stiffened as he gazed back at her in surprise. "I..."

He couldn't say it back.

Those three damn words, he just couldn't say them back to her. He had said them to Rinoa... but why not Selphie?... When he confessed his feelings to Selphie, he basically told her he loved her, right? She even knew he loved her...

So why couldn't he just say them outright to her now?

Selphie tilted her head slightly, expecting an answer from him.

"I..." he looked at her regretfully. "I... have something to do now."

She looked disappointed. "Oh." She moved away from him so that he could sit up. She sat, staring down at her comforter as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world.

He could kill himself right about now. She looked so sad. And on performance day, too. Squall stood up and took a step toward the door, thinking. He heard nothing from her, which was unusual... this worried him a little. Did he seem too cold to her just then?

He turned and swiftly enveloped her in a hug, his arms wrapping over her arms. She still didn't look at him.

"Sefie," he muttered. "I... I'll see you later."

_(Dammit, I still couldn't say it...)_

But he really loved her... he did.

"Mmkay, Squall," she replied, smiling a little.

_(I'm sorry, Sefie...)_ He kissed her on the head. "Bye..."

_"I love you..."_

_Squall gave her a sinister smile as he pushed the gunblade through her stomach, watching contentedly as the blood gushed out of her, staining the sunshine yellow jumper. His eyes travelled from her stomach and up to the shocked sadness on her face..._

Squall let out a cry and unintentionally pushed her away with force. Selphie placed her arms behind her to keep her balance. She locked her gaze onto him, concerned and somewhat hurt. "... Squall?"

"Nothing," he immediately replied, his voice harsher than he intended.

She flinched slightly at his tone and then added uncertainly, "You're... sweating again--"

Squall ignored her comment and took in deep breaths, calming himself down. _(It happened again. That... I don't know what it was... or where it came from... I need time to myself...)_

"Later, Sef." He left quietly without waiting for a response from her.

When the door closed behind him, Selphie continued to sit quietly, wondering what his problem was. She was feeling a lot of things... worry, anxiety, hurt...

Maybe he didn't love her after all.

_(Crazy, Sefie, crazy...)_ she thought to herself. He was the one who confessed first, anyway. She was growing optimistic again... not a lot of things can keep her down.

Sometimes, though, Squall can be a little secretive... especially with those random outbursts he had today and yesterday... but this was no time for her to be worried about that. She glanced at the clock. She had a show to do.

* * *

It was almost seven (1900 in military time) in the evening, and plenty of chairs were set up around the stage in the Quad. A big turnout was expected and a big turnout was what they got. The ticket booth was busy, the crowds were making some others claustrophobic, and seats were filling up quickly. The show was to start at seven-thirty.

Fujin grabbed Seifer's arm and dragged him to a section of seats near the front. "SAVE THEM FOR THE OTHERS," she explained in an orderly manner.

"Me?! Why me?! I wanted to socialize a little... not sit around... dammit, Fuj!"

She ignored his whining. "RINOA. DON'T MENTION _IT_."

He smirked. "Still bemoaning about her dad making president of Galbadia in the election?"

"YES. SHE IS."

Rinoa appeared just then, holding Selphie's precious video camera. She looked very content, the matter with her father forgotten. "I feel so powerful," she said absently. She looked over at her two friends. "So... we're sitting here?"

"Yup," Seifer replied. He started pointing to some seats. "One for you, me, Commando, Quisty, Fuj, Rai, Sis, Matron, Headmaster, Prez Loire, Kiros, and Ward." (They gladly would have invited Nida to sit with them too, only he was part of the show's technical crew.)

"Wow, that's a lot of us," Rinoa commented.

"YES. TWELVE."

"What's Zell doing again?" the sorceress asked.

"Bass guitar, ya know."

Rinoa jumped, startled, nearly dropping the carmera. "CRAPPIT!" she yelped, fearing for her life. Behind her, Raijin laughed in amusement.

"Hyne, Rin," Seifer remarked, shaking his head at her in feigned disappointment.

"Shut up, _Sei Sei_!" she cried.

"Make sure you film Selphie and her show, not Chicken-wuss in the pit."

She blushed and turned away, scowling.

Quistis and Ellone showed then, each holding a copy of the program. They were talking about something the others couldn't make out, but it was causing them to laugh secretly.

"So we all agreed yesterday that we would sit here?" Quistis spoke up, turning to the others.

"Right," Rinoa confirmed, holding up the camera. She aimed it at Quistis' direction and pressed the red button, putting it on RECORD.

Ellone spotted this move and slowly and inconspicuously went away, seating herself in one of the seats. Quistis put a hand in front of her, blocking the camera's view on her. "Save it, Rin. I prefer you film the play, not me."

Getting an idea, Seifer suddenly went behind Quistis, wrapping his arms around her body and holding down her arms. She let out a little scream and struggled violently against his strong grip. "Isn't she lovely?" he said into the camera.

Rinoa laughed and zoomed in on Quistis, catching the faint blush on the instructor's cheeks. Then she turned the camera to Raijin, who just gave the camcorder's lens a raised eyebrow. "Having fun, Rai?" she asked.

"I guess, ya know." From somewhere near her, she could hear Ellone telling Fujin that the adults (Headmaster, Matron, Laguna, etc.) decided to sit further back in the "old people" seats, since most of the kids stayed near the front.

Rinoa noticed a familiar blur a couple yards behind Raijin and zoomed in on it. Squall Leonhart. "Squall!" she called happily, setting the camcorder on her ex.

He gave the camera a glare and just sat down in one of the group's saved seats... in one of the ones furthest away from everyone else.

She put it on PAUSE, looking at him curiously as she lowered the camera. Even if it wasn't evident on his face, she knew that something was making him depressed.

"Squall seems... colder than usual, ya know," Raijin noted. "Maybe he and Selphie had a fight or something, ya know..."

Rinoa was about to go talk to him, but Seifer beat her to the punch (he had eventually let go of Quistis and she went off to socialize).

* * *

Seifer plopped down next to Squall and sighed heavily. "So... Commando, what's your problem? You seem a little more anti-social than usual."

Squall gave him an annoyed look. "Nothing's wrong, Seifer. I just feel like being alone, so leave."

"Ouch," the ex-knight replied. He shook his head. "Now, Squall... I don't even _remember_ the last time you looked this angry... and it's pretty hard to tell when you're... Squall. That says a lot." He looked at his friend closely. "Something happened between you and Sefie, huh?"

The commander was quiet for a long time. He stared down at the ground somberly. And then, in a low voice he said, "I couldn't say it..."

"Say...?"

"Say I loved her. She told me she loved me... and I couldn't say it back..." _(No way I'm going to tell him about... that other thing...)_

Seifer was taken aback. He looked away for a second, just thinking of how _he_ felt about Selphie, kind of hurt at how deep the couple's feelings actually were. "...Oh."

Squall didn't seem to notice the change in Seifer's mood. "I tried... but I ended up saying I had to go, and she just had this sad look on her face that killed me... I didn't like seeing that face on her..."

"..." Seifer didn't really want to get into this conversation. He sighed. "It'll work out, Squall. This ain't no big deal. I'm sure she came to an understanding. Past all that energy and childishness... she can be pretty damn smart..."

The lights in the Quad dimmed. The pit orchestra/band, including Irvine and Zell, started going to their places at the bottom right (the audience's right) near the corner of the stage. Everyone who was going to watch the show took their seats, including the people in Squall's and Seifer's main circle of friends.

Seifer and Squall turned their attention to the stage (the curtain was completely closed) as a spotlight came on near the right. A guy (dressed in medieval garb) came on from stage down right and walked toward the center. He stopped there and turned the audience.

"_ The West and the East were waging war_," he, the Narrator, began, "_Draco, the West's great hero, thinks of his love, Maria. Is she safe? Is she waiting..._?" The light faded, leaving him in darkness. But then, the "hero", Draco, trudged onto stage opposite of where the Narrator had come from. He was dressed in chainmail and armor, but he looked tattered, torn, and slightly bloody. There was a scratched sword in his hand. He had obviously been fighting.

Collapsing onto his knees and staring upward, he cried out, "_Oh Maria! Oh Maria! How I long to be with you_!" The lighted faded on him and the attention went back to the Narrator.

"_The forces of the West fell, and Maria's castle was taken. Prince Ralse, of the East, took her hand by force. But she never stopped yearning for Draco..._"

The light on him was gone, and the music began... a lush mix of strings and guitars playing the introduction of a renewed aria. The curtain began to move. Squall sat back in anticipation, waiting eagerly to see his girlfriend perform...

The curtain slowly opened, a soft light shining on the set... the set of a ballroom with an archway, a staircase with a banister, and a balcony. Selphie was on the staircase, about to descend it.

Her appearance took everyone's (in their gang, that is) breath away, especially Squall. From beside him, Seifer gave a low whistle, impressed. She definitely looked her finest at that moment. Her emerald eyes shining, full of the yearning she was supposed to put out for her role. Her light eye makeup shaped those green orbs well. He was also very drawn to her pink, glossy lips. He wanted to kiss those so badly at that moment. Her hair was also perfectly curled in ribbon-like strands. The gossamer green dress she wore showed off the curves of her body he never knew she had. The makeup and costume people certainly did a good job. This definitely topped that one mission oh-so-long ago. He just couldn't tear his eyes away.

The introduction subsided and some slow piano chords and harmonies came into play.

Selphie parted her lips and began to sing.

_**"Oh, my hero... so far away now..."**_

_"I love you..."_

_A river of blood, a magnificent gunblade suddenly coated with red... his own gloved hands pushing the weapon into Selphie's stomach..._

_His cold, steel eyes travelling to the betrayal in those sad eyes..._

_(NO.)_ Squall forced the on-coming vision away. This was Selphie's time. Whatever it was that had been flooding his brain with these horrors will never take over. He concentrated on _her_, watching _her_.

**_Will I ever see your smile?_**

_"Squall!! Remember me!! Don't... kill me..."_

_(STOP.)_ Squall, trying to stay unnoticed by the rest of his friends around him, leaned over in his seat, shutting his eyes. He needed to get rid of them once and for all. _(I love her... I LOVE HER.)_

_His face hovered above hers after he thrust the gunblade into her, smirking triumphantly. Selphie searched his eyes weakly._

_"No... I know... you're there, Squall..." she started holding herself against him to keep her legs from giving out... collapsing and never getting up again._

_He only looked down at her indifferently, his hand on the gunblade that protruded out of her still._

_"Squall..."_

_(Sefie!)_ he cried in his mind, shaken. He sat up suddenly, as if waking from a bad dream. He looked up at the stage, finding that her play was still going on with not trouble. She looked wonderful up there, and he could tell that she worked hard on this and was happy to be a part of it.

How could he dream of killing her? Squall grew inwardly frightened. What if... this was a premonition of some sort? A foreshadowing? That he could lose himself to something else... causing him to lose her... he couldn't imagine what he'd do without Selphie.

She needed to know he loved her. Forget all the awkwardness he had in her room.

She needed to know NOW.

**_Love goes away, like night into day...  
It's just a fading dream._**

* * *

After the show, Squall wandered to the end of the ramp, careful not to be directly on it or in front of it when the hordes of people where passing by. He didn't know where Seifer or the others went off to. As soon as he and the others left their seats, the commander lost every single one of his friends in the crowds.

Looking out ahead, he could see Selphie, pushing past people and running clumsily to him, a huge smile on her face. She was holding the front of her long skirt up slightly, so that she wouldn't trip over it. Her curls bounced around her slightly.

**_I'm the darkness, you're the stars._**

He grinned at his oncoming girlfriend, relieved that their incident earlier had seemed to be forgotten... relieved that the nightmares were leaving him alone for at least the time being. For the moment, it was just him and her. He held his arms out, preparing to take her in his arms. She pounced onto him excitedly, her sweet-smelling perfume filling his nose.

He was melting... he could've turned into a lovesick puddle any moment now...

**_Our love is brighter than the sun._**

"So what did you think, Squally?" Selphie asked him in a hyper manner, parting from him a little. "Was I good? Huh huh huh?"

He kissed her cheek chastely. "You were wonderful."

"Really?! Thank you!" she giggled and let him go.

Squall couldn't help but stare at her. He was still mesmerized by the gentle, shiny hair framing her face... her noticeably fuller, poutier lips... her sparkling green eyes... that more-than-flattering forest-green gown...

"What's up, Squall?" she questioned, tilting her head up at him.

He was losing the fear of The Words... because now... he _needed_ to tell her... she needed to know. Know how much she meant to him. How beautiful she was... how... everything. "I want to tell you something," he murmured to her.

_(I love you.)_

"Okay!" she cheered. She grabbed his hands and swung them back and forth, her emerald eyes meeting his icy blue-greys. "What is it?"

_(I adore you.)_

"Um..." he started. His thoughts were jumbled up. The fear was starting to come back, but he was forcing himself to keep it back. What was there to be afraid of? His thoughts were chaotic and conflicting, but he outwardly wanted to keep his cool.

"I'm waiting..." she broke in, creeping closer to look up at him more carefully. She grinned.

_(I need you.)_

"Sorry... I... uh..." This was hard. He gazed down at her. _(Dammit, why are you scared of saying you love her?!)_ "... I..."

_(I want you.)_

**_For eternity, for me there can be..._**

She watched him deviously. "Okay... since you're being so slow, I think I'll go ahead and PARTY while _you_ sit there thinking of what you need to tell me." She was about to let go of his hands, but he suddenly held on tighter and pulled her to him, their bodies coming together.

_(No,)_ He thought, reprimanding himself. _(I can't be scared of this... Never again... because...)_

"I love you," he finally said, with all the truth and love he could put out. He eyed her tenderly.

**_Only you, my chosen one..._**

After a long pause of just staring back at him in utter astonishment, Selphie squealed and jumped into his arms. "I LOVE YOU, TOO!" she proclaimed, embracing him with all her might.

"Score!"

The couple froze, wondering who said that and where it came from. It seem to have come from some place very nearby. Looking very suspicious, Squall looked around him and Selphie very carefully before noticing a rustle and possibly harsh whispers (the room was loud, after all) in the plant near him.

Along with a hint of light blue and a small manifestation of grey... not very well hidden.

Selphie laughed.

"Rinoa, Seifer... you two got that on tape, didn't you?" Squall sourly asked the occupied bush. Come to think of it, he thought he recognized Seifer's voice as the one who cried out "Score!".

"Awww, shit, Commando!" Seifer popped out first and jumped off the place where the plants were planted.

Rinoa, who was still holding the camera, came out second, daintily hopping off. She smiled sweetly. "It was a precious moment, Squall... we had to catch it!" She patted Selphie's camera affectionately.

The Lion grumbled something incoherent and turned his head to his side, crossing his arms.

Selphie high-fived the both of them. "You two are pretty sneaky," she complimented.

Squall turned to her, glaring. "Whose side are you on, anyway?"

She just stuck her tongue at him.

* * *

Ciel had the worst feeling in the world... she was almost positive that he would die. She could almost feel his death coming near.

She didn't know where Jarek and Bethe have gone off to. They didn't seem to concerned, which pissed Ciel off. They had peeked their heads in a couple of times, telling her that she should eat before she gets sick.

She told them she had more important things to do.

Like what? Sit around hoping he would wake up? they would ask. He might not, you know.

Harsh.

_**Must I forget you? Our solemn promise?  
Will autumn take the place of spring?  
What shall I do? I'm lost without you.  
Speak to me once more!**_

And then suddenly, he stirred.

Ciel's heart leaped, waiting in anticipation as Azul's eyes ever-so-slowly opened. He looked up at her, squinting slightly, trying to get his vision in focus.

He raised an eyebrow, feeling her hand entertwined with his own. "Ci?"

"You're okay..."

He smiled, glad to see that she had been at his side while he was passed out. Feeling a lot better, with the color returning to his face, Azul sat up. "Did Jarek say anything?"

"About...?"

"I don't know. About anything? New missions?" He smirked. "I'm ready to kick some SeeD ass like I did to that so-called commander from Balamb..."

Ciel gave him a dubious look. Weird how he was suddenly good as new... as if he had never been closed to the point of death less than an hour before.

Azul caught the look she gave him. "I'm fine, Ci. No worries, dammit." He looked a little annoyed. "No need to baby me."

She harrumphed. "Well, sorry for caring." She realized that she was still holding his hand. She let go of it slowly. Her hand afterward felt cold and well, both figuratively and literally, empty.

His eyes softened a little. "You were here the entire time. You.. didn't have to, ya know..."

"I wanted to."

"But..."

"Why wouldn't I?"

Azul shrugged, not knowing what to say next. He had his own suspicions on what Ciel thought, but knowing they were both hard-headed and not prone to being emotional, he knew neither of them would give in to their feelings so easily.

"What happened?" she asked him.

He looked a little startled that she would ask him that. She gave him a deadly glare. "I need to know, Azul. You can't just faint and cough up blood all of a sudden. Ever since we were fifteen, llike four years ago, you've been getting sick a lot..."

He turned away from her, not wanting to get into this...

"Remember when you had to go to Esthar Hospital? And that scientist visited you because none of the doctors knew how to treat you?"

"We're not talking about this--"

"What did Dr. Odine tell you?"

"Nothing."

"Yeah the fuck right," she replied crossly.

Giving up, Azul complied. Shaking his head, he replied. "That GF... isn't really a GF. Reaper's something else. Odine ran tests on me... I had to go to his lab for a few days... and he made... discoveries." He eyed her carefully. "Reaper is a Dark Force... they've been here all along... on this planet. We never notice them because they're pretty rare. Any other ol' person would think they've got a powerful one-of-a-kind Guardian Force to show off in battle with, but in truth, the DFs are deadly."

She took in all this information with shock. Her eyes were the size of saucers. "... Deadly?... DF?" _(What the hell??)_

"It eats you alive," he went on, "It amplifies all of your spells, giving you a great advantage in battle, but at the same time, it eats up your energy, your soul... anything intangible that keeps you alive and kicking. It fucking devours you. And then eventually... you _become_ that DF... the end."

She didn't know how to react. Was he lying? Was he just trying to get her off his back? Or does this... really exist? "You're shitting me..." she muttered.

He shook his head. "I wish."

She sighed. "What do you mean by becoming the DF?"

"I meant that literally. You're gone. The power-hungry DF gets stronger and finds another host to get more until I guess, it's about invincible."

Ciel couldn't breathe. This is what had been happening to her best friend all along?! "And you didn't tell me?!" she thought out loud, suddenly outraged. She stared at him with wild eyes. "You kept this a secret?! Why the hell did you do that?!"

"Because you fucking worry too much, Ciel!" Azul hissed. "And what's the fucking point if I'm gonna die anyway?! You can't draw it from me and I can't un-junction the damn thing to save my ass!"

"I worry too much?!" she repeated incredulously. "And you can't...?!"

He gritted his teeth and calmed down some. "I don't want you to worry about me. I want you to live without thinking of me or my condition. I know you tend to think of me more than yourself..." he stopped, realizing what he had just said about her.

Ciel looked uncomfortable. "Azul... it didn't help any... you can't... lie your way out of this... you can't say that anything that happened to you due to Reaper is nothing. I still worry. Even when I act stubborn and cold and seem focused solely on getting missions done... I worry."

He gazed at her, seeing her in a new light, if one could say that. He didn't expect her to care this much, even if she was his best friend. His face suddenly felt hot, and he didn't think it was the temperature.

She looked down at her watch. "It's late..."

He nodded. He _was_ feeling a little bit sleepy. He and she shared a glance, both feeling saddened about Azul's ordeal.

Ciel was the first to speak again. "I'll tell Jarek and Bethe that you woke up... and then I'll go to my own tent to sleep." She began to get up, but Azul reached out and grabbed a hold of her arm.

They both looked surprised at the gesture, but he got a hold of himself as he said, "How about you... stay in my tent tonight?"

She was able to hold her blush down. She wanted to, to be honest, but... at the same time, she needed time to... well, think. Smiling, she answered, "Some other time..."

He cocked an eyebrow, grinning back. "All right then..." He winked. "G'night."

She sat still a moment. "Don't faint or die on me tonight, okay?" She meant it as a joke, but somehow it didn't exactly come out that way.

"I'll make sure neither happens."

And Ciel left.

**_We must part now, my life goes on.  
But my heart won't give you up._**

* * *

So quickly morning arrived, and now that the anarchists had new errands to tend to, they were on the move.

**_'Ere I walk away, let me here you say_**

Ciel lifted the flap of Azul's tent. "Hey," she called loudly. "You need to wake up, we're moving."

All she saw was him lying facedown with his arms folded beneath his head. He didn't respond. Oh, well, Azul was a heavy sleeper, anyway. She went on into his tent and squatted, reaching her hand out to his shoulder. "Geez, if Jarek yells at us for being late again, we're in deep shit..." She shook his shoulder. "Hey, Azul!"

He didn't wake up still. A new feeling crept into Ciel then. She trembled slightly, wishing it would go away... it was causing her despair, grief... so much negativity...

"A-Azul...?" She felt empty... something was missing...

**_I meant as much to you..._**

She rested with her knees on the ground and flipped him over, shaking him harder this time. "Azul! Wake up, dammit! Stop scaring me!"

She didn't notice behind her that Jarek and Bethe both had lifted the tent flap and were watching her curiously.

Ciel stared at his unusually peaceful face. His unusually _pale_ face. Shakily, she reached a hand out to his cheek and let her palm rest against it. Immediately, she drew it back, shocked at how cold it was.

From behind her, Bethe spoke up in a quiet voice. "He's dead, isn't he? I can feel it..."

_(No no no no...)_ Ciel said over and over in her head as she put two fingers against his neck, feeling for a hopeful pulse. After a bit, she stared at Azul in disbelief. He couldn't be... he just couldn't...

"AZUL!" She felt her eyes burn. She blinked a couple of times and saw that her vision started to blur. _(I shouldn't have left him... I never told him... that I...)_

**_So gently, you touched my heart._**

She heard someone come up behind her and clamp a hand on her shoulder. "Ciel," came Jarek's voice. The blonde knew he wanted an explanation for raven-haired man's untimely death.

Ciel pursed her lips together determinedly. _(Stop it,)_ she scolded herself. _(Don't be weak... don't cry. You have to keep going... keep him in your heart, but you need to keep going...)_ Not replying to Jarek, she gently shrugged off his hand and held her hand silently toward Azul's corpse. _(Reaper...)_ she began in her head, hoping the DF would hear her. _(The man you had been feeding on... he's no longer there... I know you're not done... gathering your... power... you need a new host. Azul... he didn't have enough energy... you couldn't devour him successfully.)_

She knew... somehow. She understood these DFs.

"Come to me..." she mouthed, attempting to draw from Azul.

One would wonder why she was doing this. Truthfully... she wanted to suffer. Suffer what Azul had suffered... to feel his pain... she didn't know why, but she had the need to follow in his footsteps... so that she can continue what he wanted to do.

_**I will be forever yours.**_

Pinpoints of red light suddenly rushed from Azul's body and into her extended hand. Ciel felt a chill as the DF began to occupy part of her mind, like most GFs do. She felt the familiar loss of space... her memories, only now... the loss seemed amplified.

She will die, she will be in pain... but... she wanted the burden to be on her shoulders.

_**Come what may...**_

Without a word, she pushed past Jarek and Bethe and came out of the tent, her head slightly bowed and her gait slower and more lazy than usual.

"Ciel, what the hell was that?" Jarek asked, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. He came up behind her but didn't make her turn around. He looked confused, and although he would never admit it or show it, he actually cared about all the people in his chapter of their movement (he was the leader, obviously). And from the tone of his voice Ciel knew he was a little freaked out about Azul dying. "Wh-why did he...?"

He and Bethe deserved an explanation. Of everything. She looked down and played with the ring of chains she wore... what everyone in their movement wore. They represented the unity of REVOLUTION and the fact that they were bound for this destiny of theirs... to rule. They lived to rule... without any silly SeeD in the way. That was why they were intent on destroying SeeD. That mercernary group was strong, so they needed to be taken out.

_**I won't age a day...**_

"Ciel!" Bethe cried, trying to get her attention. "Quit daydreaming--"

"The GF..." Ciel started quietly, barely loud enough for her teammates to hear. "Reaper... it killed him."

Jarek stared at her back. "...What?!"

"Dr. Odine made a discovery... about Guardian Forces... there was another more evil group of them... he called them Dark Forces..." She went on, in a low voice about the burden she would now carry.

Jarek looked down at the grass in front of him, contemplating the words being fed to him. His heart was beating wildly, astonished with the new information. _(Dammit, this can't be!)_ He had been having the same problem, only he was much more immune to pain than Azul was.

_(Lucifer...)_

Lucifer was the GF he could never un-junction but could never figure out why. He had always kept it to himself. He wasn't a very open person.

"Dammit..." Bethe rasped from beside him. "What about you? You have Reaper now... you'll die too!"

"... It's difficult to explain..."

Jarek didn't break from his thoughts. Hearing all of this... it was only a matter of time until he perishes too because of Lucifer. Will he really die? If so... how long will it be until that fateful day? Four years? One? Is it the same for all DFs?

"Jarek."

He looked to his blonde subordinate. "What?"

She stood there, facing him with sadder, but wiser amethyst eyes. She wasn't ready to back down. She had some pent-up anger yearning to break free. She will take it out on the battles in missions.

She was angry... over _his_ death.

And still, there was a small part of her that was broken... wishing to just break down, to stop being a terrorist, to be nothing but a simple Galbadian student again.

_**I'll wait for you, always...**_

"What?" she heard Jarek ask her again. Bethe stood off to the side, looking pretty sad herself over the loss of her teammate.

Ciel's eyes suddenly... changed. To the others' surprise, she was now facing them with deathly dangerous eyes. In fact, she looked unrecognizable. Bethe and Jarek could swear she was going mad or something. "We need to kill them all. SeeD... government... all of them."

Her teammates were speechless. Ciel glared viciously at their unresponsiveness. Nevertheless, she continued with her small spiel.

"Everyone will die."

* * *

In Squall's room, a half-awake Selphie shifted slightly in bed, turning and gently bumping into the warm, bare chest of her boyfriend. She snuggled closer, looking for warmth. In turn, the boxer-clad Squall turned his tired eyes to her and slid an arm around her, holding her close to him like a teddy bear. He shut his eyes again, falling into a doze. It was morning, and it wasn't very early in the morning, but neither really wanted to get up.

No, they didn't do _that_. It was too early in their opinions. They preferred to take the term "sleeping together" literally, not figuratively.

Squall's alarm clock went off. Selphie, who was on the side where the clock was, pulled away from Squall lazily and attempted to turn it off, but she kept pressing the wrong buttons. Squall grumbled and crawled over her, slamming down the right button. Now straddling the nunchaku specialist, he rubbed his eyes with his thumb and his index finger and then looked down at her, the snug, slightly dressy tank top she wore the night before (she had changed after the show), and the same tan skirt from oh-so-long ago.

"..."

She stared back up at him, grinning knowingly.

Squall pulled the blanket over the both of them and proceeded to make out with her.

There was a strong knock at the main door, and they could hear it very clearly from Squall's room, for his bedroom door, for reasons unknown, was stuck open.

_(Damn broken doors...)_ He should get it fixed.

They ignored the rapping.

A minute later, the knock came again, this time more persistent. They both heard a low bellow. "OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR."

It sounded like Seifer.

Squall lifted his head, cursing up a storm under his breath. _(WHY DOES HE DO THIS TO ME NOW?! DAMN SEIFER TO HELL! I'M BUSY HERE!)_

Selphie pulled him back down. "Don't stop," she whispered, her mouth on his jawline. She kissed him full on the mouth, smoothly and longingly. Her legs were sliding over his... her hands began impudently running over his chest--

Squall lifted his head again, this time to gape at her, blushing hard. He had never seen her this... lustful before. She looked back at him innocently. _(She doesn't want... that, does she??)_ he thought in a panic. _(Nah, she told me she didn't... I certainly don't want it yet... but... we can get pretty damn close...)_ At the moment he felt very conflicted... make out with his lovely Selphie some more with the knocking in the background... or answer the door before that incessant knocking becomes more annoying...

Finally, he lifted the covers and pulled himself off of her. "Awww... Squaaall...!" she whined childishly.

He put a finger to his lips, signalling her to keep it down. Then he put the blanket over her head. "I don't want Seifer to think anything..." he explained quietly, trying not to blush.

"THIIIIS IIISSS HYYYNE..."

She giggled and laid flat on the bed.

"OOOPPEEEENNN THEEEE DOOOOOR, COOMAAAANDOOOO."

Squall unlocked the door, letting it slide open. He glared angrily at Seifer, who was standing there by himself, his gunblade by his side. "What is your problem?!" the commander raged.

Seifer looked almost hurt. "Heyyy, man, you said we'd spar this morning--" he paused when he glanced behind the half-naked brunet. He couldn't see the Lion's bed from where he was, but he could hear stifled giggles. Hmm...

Squall suddenly looked nervous. "What the hell are you looking at?" he questioned warily.

Seifer grinned mischievously and pushed past Squall, who didn't have time to defend himself. The Lion teetered back and fell against the wall, regaining his balance. "Seifer..." Squall warned.

Seifer didn't respond. He walked through the open bedroom door and over to the bed. He ripped off the covers deftly, revealing a meek-looking Trabian. The blond's eyes widened significantly. He didn't know whether to feel hurt or to be funny. He chose the latter. "Squall Leonhart..." he began, looking over at his friend,"... You... ANIMAL..."

Squall walked up next to him, growling, "Shut the hell u--"

"Did you use protection?" Seifer smiled cheekily.

"That's it. Get out." Squall pointed to the door, extremely irked.

Selphie, who's face was now pink, held up her hands. "Sei Sei... we didn't do _it_. We just came back here after the after-party and talked... it was getting late, and I was too exhausted to go back to my own dorm, so..."

Seifer nodded in understanding. He raised an eyebrow. "So then... what's THAT?!" he pointed to her neck accusingly.

Selphie's hand immediately went up to her neck, where a large mark now rested. A hickey from last night. Both Selphie and Squall looked equally embarrassed.

_(Talked, huh?)_ "I see that you've made your claim, Commando."

That was when Squall finally pushed the blond out of his dorm gruffly and cancelled their supposed training session.

Squall stared at the door for a second in dismay. _(Can't I be in love in peace?)_

* * *

**Author's Notes:** _Okay, a few things...  
-- Yeah... that last bit was random, but... I wanted to stick some unnecessary humor at the end of this somewhat dismal chapter.  
-- I don't know what key the aria is played in, so I just kind of made it in the key of F. If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry about it. Also, I only heard the Italian version of the song and got the English lyrics from somewhere else.  
-- Yes, yes, this is partly a songfic... I really liked the song and I wanted to make it fit somehow.  
-- I haven't played FFVI, therefore I don't know what the opera part in the game looked like. I only have the script and the lyrics, so I did my own (or rather, Selphie did) "blocking" for the "show". X3 Hey, I was in theater in high school, so it wasn't that bad. X3  
-- I'm not particularly proud of my work on this chapter. I think I made it too mushy. -.-;; There wasn't enough action, in my opinion. Ah, oh well, things needed to be explained... it was more of an informative chapter, I guess.. o.o...  
-- It was too long and I considered cutting some of it or moving it to the next chapter... but I really wanted to get to a certain point before I go on.  
-- I didn't mean to put so much on Ciel and Azul in here, but I wanted their situation to be an example to... what happens in the future. There wasn't enough depth on the other main characters, though... / Do any of you even like Ciel or Azul? Not that it matters. I was just wondering. )_

**OH SNAP! REVIEWS TIME!  
**

**Aramaring:** Yup! First one again! XD ... Assassin Forces... I like that... why didn't I think of that?! XD Lol... I can fit that into some dialogue in the story somehow... hehehe.. Thanx. )

**Chain-M:** ) Thanx for reviewing again!

**:.K.: :** Spelling errors? Pffft. I won my school's spelling bee in 4th grade! XD (but then lost the first round at District... .) Thanx for your review!! W00t.

**Yuffie Kisaragi2:** Random outbursts, huh? Hahaha... I do it all the time!! XD

**Hi:** Yeah, I don't like it when authors don't finish good fics, either... but... I'm trying! I have college in the fall, but... yeah, I'll work my way around it. O.o

**Divine Star:** Glad you liked the Laguna/Squall thingy! I really wanted them to get over themselves, so I put that bit in there! XD


	10. IX: The Dreaded Exams of Garden

**A/N:** _Nida, Fujin, nor Raijin didn't have last names, did they? Hah, if not, I took a last name that everyone seemed to use with Fujin and I made a similar one for Raijin. ) And I completely made up Nida's. XD Making up names is fun... but too many can kill a couple'a brain cells. 3_

Okays, I just want to point out (for no real reason... .) that I'm not trying to make this story **just** about Squall and Selphie. I want to fit the entire cast in... so overall, this is about everyone's relations to each other and what happens to this group of friends when things like the DFs and the anarchists get in the way.

* * *

**Maybe It Could Work**  
**by Elcyion Pitye**

* * *

**IX. The Dreaded Exams Of Garden**

Fujin liked Exam Week. Even if it was scheduled nearly a month too early, she still did. Class started late. The only class you needed to to attend is homeroom. Plus, the school year ended when the field exam was over, unless you had summer classes, which not very many people take. Anyway, you choose a time and day for your GF prerequisite during the week and go. They can range from morning to afternoon on Monday through Thursday. On Friday, you can sign for morning times, because the afternoon was reserved for the field exam. The support required for the prerequisite can be requested, but it was not always guaranteed that you would get that SeeD as your support. It has to be arranged around that SeeD's personal schedule. If you signed up early enough, then you can get the GF of your choice from the approved list and be able to go with the support you want.

As for the written exam, if you reserved a prerequisite time in the morning, then you can either attend an afternoon session for the written exam that same day, or take it any other day, Monday through Thursday, either the morning or the afternoon session. It was a matter of being responsible for signing up.

Fujin didn't know what there was to dread about the exams. She was confident this year about the oh-so-hard written test because she studied hard. She had failed last year's, but that was because she didn't work very diligently.

"Hey, Fuj, did you do the final review?" Rinoa questioned, sitting next to her roommate in the panel. Fujin had gotten to class early, she was supposed to be taking the written exam today, Tuesday, in the afternoon (when dismissed by the instructor, the taker will have to proceed to the test room by fifteen minutes after homeroom started). She had done her prerequisite Monday morning, just to be ahead of the game. Now she was junctioned to Typoon, a GF that had mostly wind-type abilities. Just right for her.

Rinoa's prereq was on Wednesday afternoon and her written was in the morning that same day, the same time Raijin would be getting his prerequisite done.

"YES."

"Can I...?"

"NOT THAT HARD." Fujin raised an eyebrow. Rinoa was a normally smart student. She didn't need to look at Fujin's paper... And plus, a computer, a BIG source of information, was sitting right in front of her. Fujin reached down into her bookbag and pulled out a blue folder. She opened it and pulled out the packet of papers they called their SeeD exam review and handed it to Rinoa.

The sorceress took the packet gratefully and started skimming through both hers and Fujin's. "I just... want to see if we got the same answers..."

"COMPUTER."

"Eh, this is faster..."

"EXAM TOMORROW. STUDY LATER," Fujin pointed out, noticing that Rinoa seemed a little... frazzled. The sorceress looked like she needed some rest and like she was restraining herself from snapping... or something. "RINOA. YOU OKAY?"

Rinoa looked up, reasonably composed. "Hm? I'm fine."

No, she wasn't. Fujin cleared her throat. "You're not exactly over your father--"

"I'm FINE," Rinoa insisted rather harshly, cutting her off. _(Am I that easy to read?)_ she wondered. "He's president of Galbadia. That's fucking good for that old idiot. No big deal for me."

Fujin's lone eye widened in surprise at her use of language. After a while, the eye-patched girl spoke up again. "You seem really stressed... it's not good for you..."

"That stupid father of mine. His beliefs are idiotic," Rinoa said without thinking, "And still he won by a landslide... and with his face everywhere in the media _and_ these stupid so-called difficult exams I'm taking for the first time, I feel like shit and I want to crumple up into a ball and cry!" She set down the papers on the desk and frowned deeply.

Fujin sighed. "You helped save the world and you're worried over this? It's been a while since the elections finished."

Rinoa shrugged, staring at the papers in feigned fascination.

"Why don't you like your father, exactly? I know it's not just about his beliefs for Galbadia."

Rinoa's eyes darkened. "I really don't want to talk about it..."

"Oh. Okay..." The raven-haired teen seemed like she _really_ didn't want to talk about, so Fujin decided to leave it at that.

Everyone was coming into the classroom, anyway, and she was sure Rinoa wouldn't want to talk when anyone could eavesdrop on them. Rinoa continued looking over the reviews while Fujin turned on the computer on her panel to do some last-minute studying.

"Hello, ladies," Irvine chimed in cheerfully as he entered and sauntered up to the girls' panel. Raijin came in after him and sat down in a panel, unnoticed by the others. "Ready for today, Fuji, darlin'?" he added.

Fujin smirked at his flirtatious attitude. "OF COURSE."

Irvine was taking the exam that afternoon, too. He would have opted for a later time almost greedily, but he procrastinated and most of the more desired time slots were already taken.

"How can y'not be nervous 'bout the frickin' WRITTEN exam?!" Rinoa exclaimed, looking up at Irvine with wild eyes.

Oh, so _there_ was her accent, which meant that she was really starting to lose her cool.

Irvine stared at her warily before patting her on the head. "It's called studying, love. Even lazy cowboys like me do it... for the sake of bein' a damn SeeD." He looked toward his seat. "Ya know, since we've got some time to kill before ol' Quisty dismisses us, I guess I c'do some more of it..." He headed to his desk. "Yer lucky to be doin' the thing tomorrow 'stead of today, Rin... give it a rest for a day."

"Never!"

Seifer came in not long after, munching on a candy bar. A Chocobo Cocoa Bar, to be exact. "Don't go-go without a Chocobo Cocoa," Seifer said cheesily as he entered the classroom, reciting the slogan for the food product.

Irvine and Fujin rolled their eyes (Rinoa was too busy studying to respond). Seifer narrowed his eyes at the two females. "Looks like you two aren't in your assigned seats... hmm..."

"We don't HAVE assigned seats, dumbass," Irvine piped up.

"Yeah, I know," Seifer replied casually, taking a bite out of his chocolate bar. "I was testing you guys."

"WHATEVER," Fujin shot at him.

"Bah." Seifer plopped down next to Irvine and then turned to him. "Hey, do you have your copy of the SeeD's Exam Week schedule?"

"Where's yers?" Irvine asked monotonously, turning on the monitor in front of him.

"Never got one."

Irvine reached into one of his coat pockets and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He handed it to Seifer. "Don't lose it," he warned.

"Yeah, yeah," Seifer answered, swiping it from the Galbadian's hands. He unfolded the piece of paper and looked to see the places where all his friends were at.

* * *

**Prerequisite Schedule for SeeD Examinees**  
_Please make sure you see your support before your time!_

**MONDAY MORNING**

**0800:** Archer Locke: Support - Zell Dincht, GF - Apollyon  
**0830:** Leo Steele: Support - Nida Orion, GF - Hades  
**0900:** Brie Sirea: Support - Firion St. Germaine, GF - Nine-Tails  
**0930:** Fujin Kazeno: Support - Quistis Trepe, GF - Typoon

**MONDAY AFTERNOON**

**1400:** Rydia Fleur: Support - Shika Aki, GF --

_(Bah.. this is a long list... it fucking gets longer for each following day,)_ Seifer thought irritatedly as he interrupted himself of his concentration on the list. He started skipping down the page a little...

**WEDNESDAY MORNING**

**0700:** Caiyne Calibre: Support - Firion St. Germaine, GF - Hades  
**0730:**Raijin Ameno: Support - Quistis Trepe, GF - Ramuh  
**0800:** Alethea D'Artemus: Support - Zell Dincht--

_(Blah blah blah... haha, I see a couple of Irvine's women in there... let's skip again...)_

**WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON**

**1330:** Seifer Almasy: Support - Squall Leonhart, GF - Knights of the Round  
**1400:** Irvine Kinneas: Support - Selphie Tilmitt, GF - Byakko  
**1430:** Pyre Dagger: Support - Quistis Trepe, GF - Merlin  
**1500:** Red Nacht: Support - Baron Vevei, GF - Quixote  
**1530:** Gusty Valentine: Support - Nida Orion, GF - Kjata  
**1600:** Tessie Skorpius: Support - Firion St. Germaine, GF - Anubis  
**1630:** Dev Feydor: Support - Thanasi Cicero, GF - Titan  
**1700:** Rinoa Heartilly: Support - Zell Dincht, GF - Hecate

* * *

Seifer re-folded the paper and handed it back to his friend, who took it without looking up from the screen. "Where's the Written Exam one?"

Irvine sighed, and fumbled around in his other outer coat pocket and handed Seifer another folded-up piece of paper.

Seifer took it and unfolded it.

_(Yup, Stetson Hat and Fuji today, Tuesday; Rin, Wednesday morning; Rai and me, Thursday morning. Good deal, good deal...)_

"Hey, class." Quistis came into the room in her usual manner, composed and almost happy. She put down the bookbag she brought with her down by her desk. She clasped her hands in front of her in a teacherly manner and stood in front of her desk confidently, ready to address the class in a proper manner.

Seifer had almost forgotten that the entire class was already there and that the tardy bell had rung.

"If you are registered to test for SeeD," the instructor began, "and you are to take the written exam this afternoon, please go to the testing room quietly when I dismiss you. As for the rest of you, please use this time wisely to study at your panels. If you want to train or go to the library, I will hand you a hall pass and you may go, but I can only let a limit of six people at a time go anywhere, even to the bathroom. If you are convinced you have nothing to do, think again." Quistis moved around to the other side of the desk and sat down in her chair. "Remember that ALL of the written exam results will be posted at the end of this hall Thursday afternoon after the last test session." She looked at three particular students expectantly. "Kinneas, Kazeno and Locke, you three may go. Make sure you bring your IDs." The three students stood up and started heading out the door.

Seifer glanced at Rinoa, who was busy studying her ass off in the panel across from his. "Rin... you're really nervous 'bout this thing, huh?" _(Enough to get your accent back...)_ he added in his head humorously.

She looked up at him innocently. Seifer could just see roses and sparkles around her as she sweetly replied, "Sei Sei, I want to study hard so I can become a SeeD. A SeeD sorceress... the first one ever. I just want to take risks and fight for world peace--"

Seifer threw a crumpled piece of paper at her. It hit her cheek. She put a hand up to her face, looking offended.

"Quit the Miss Galbadia act, Rinoa!" he exclaimed, clearly annoyed. "You ain't not princess!"

She glared at him, so out-of-character for her good girl act. "Quit getting on my nerves, SEI SEI. THIS TEST. MUST PASS IT."

He stared at her, stunned. "You're starting to sound like Fujin." That was truly creepy.

Quistis cleared her throat loudly at the two of them. "Do you two mind keeping it down?" she asked them in a commanding manner. She had just finished sending a couple of students off to the library and/or the training center.

Seifer noticed that the rest of the class was staring at him and his raven-haired friend. Seifer scoffed at them and turned to his monitor. "Sorry, Instructor Quisty..."

The teacher tsked angrily. "Address me properly in class, Cadet."

He raised an eyebrow. _(So, she's trying to keep her dignity in front of the students... hehehehe...)_ "So I can't even call you..." he smiled menacingly. "...Tiger?" he finished in a purr. "Mrowr?"

She blushed profusely and narrowed her blue eyes at her favorite cocky student. "SEIFER ALMASY!"

Rinoa snorted, her face hiding behind the monitor. _(She likes him! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!!)_ she thought, stifling her giggles.

"Hey! Quit picking on the instructor!" Some kid yelled from the back of the room.

Seifer smirked and stood up, facing the back. "Wanna piece of me, Trepie?!" he cried. "Bring it, buddy!"

"SEIFER!" Quistis said over him, her face still red. "Sit... and study. She held her hands up. "Calm down." She turned to the apparent Trepie in the back. "Sit, and calm down."

Seifer turned on his monitor, still smirking. Sometimes a little bit of the old him was good to have around.

* * *

It was Thursday. Exam Week had gone by pretty smoothly. SeeD-supports and SeeD-candidates were bustling on-campus, off-campus, and everywhere in between.

Our five favorite candidates all felt confident about their written tests, although they don't know the results yet. Raijin was proud to have gotten Ramuh, and is content with the abilities the summon came with. All day, he would train with that GF so that he could gain experience.

But anyway...

Seifer sighed in relief, sheathing his new gunblade, the Pluto Croix.

Well, he did it. He trudged through the front gates, too tired to even greet the man who guarded the doors. He glanced behind him to see an equally tired Squall, his support, a few feet behind him.

"You better be happy with your GF," Squall spoke up exhaustedly.

The doors of B-Garden opened. "Hah. I'm happy as I can be... I feel like Sefie right about now."

The two found Rinoa (with Angelo sitting quietly by her side), Fujin, and Zell by the directory, talking. Seifer and Squall trekked across the squeaky clean floors to greet their friends.

"Bow to me," was the first thing out of the taller man's mouth.

"..." said Rinoa, Fujin, and Zell. They all looked at him warily. Angelo wagged her tail and and proceeded to sniff Seifer's shoes.

"What the hell is wrong with _you_?" Zell asked, giving him a weird look. "You look like shit. I don't bow to shits... or to Seifers, for that matter."

Squall raised a hand to his own temple. "Zell... just... just don't talk."

"Fucking bow to me, bitches..." Seifer weakly raised a fist above his head. "I got Knights of the Round."

Getting Knights of the Round wasn't easy at all.

Fujin smiled warmly. "Good job. You two must have put up quite a fight."

Rinoa proudly clapped her hands together. "Wow! That's awe--"

Seifer promptly fell over in a heap on the ground, snoring lightly.

Angelo scampered back to Rinoa with a yelp, startled. The others stood there silently, shocked for a moment.

"He seems tired," Zell finally spoke up.

"NO SHIT," Fujin replied.

"I wish I could do that," Squall muttered, staring jealously at his fellow gunblade specialist. "... So how are we gonna get him to his dorm...?"

Rinoa grinned mischievously. "How about we leave him here?"

Zell laughed. "Sounds good to me."

Squall rolled his eyes. "Well..."

"Whatever," Zell, Rinoa, and Fujin finished for him.

He glared at all of his friends. Ignoring their mocking laughter, Squall asked, "Have Sefie and Irvine come back yet?"

"Yeah... another successful Draw," Zell answered cheerfully. "I think she's working in the ballroom and Irvine's darting around somewhere... looking for women." The martial artist looked down at his watch. 16:51. "Hmm..." He looked at her, smirking. "I guess we should head out, right now... don't you think, Rinny? The last one of the day." He patted Angelo's head affectionately. "You too, girl."

Rinoa took on an expression of determination, fire in her eyes. She pumped her fist in the air. "Let's go, Zelly!!" Her dog promptly barked in excitement.

"Good luck," Squall told them, nodding his head.

"YEAH," said Fujin.

"Zzzzz..." went Seifer.

Rinoa smiled at them, strapping on her Blue Seraph (a new model). Zell adjusted the fit of his new Flaming Tyrant gloves. He turned to her. "Last-minute check. You ready? Prepared?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yup!"

Zell suddenly started running, waving good-bye to his other friends. "Race you to the garage, Rin!!"

"HEY!" She sprinted after him, with her faithful dog close behind, barking away.

* * *

Selphie bustled around in the ballroom, talking hurriedly on her brand-new cell phone and carrying a clipboard. At the same time, she went around, checking in on her scarce number of volunteers, who were busy literally cleaning the ballroom, dusting, sweeping, and mopping the floor and the balcony outside... even spraying a glass cleaner on the balcony doors and wiping that. A janitor was supposed to come in a little while to wax the floor, which was pretty much a necessity, since she had forgotten about it when they had that after-party after the festival show.

"Sefie?"

She turned, finding her beloved commander standing there, looking at her expectantly. He had his hands behind his back. She held up an index finger at him, signalling for him to wait while she continued giving last-minute details to the caterer. Finally, Selphie hung up the phone and put it in her pocket. She looked up at Squall. "What is it, Squally?" she wondered optimistically.

Without a word, Squall, with a slight smile on his face, took his hands from behind his back. In one hand was a bouquet of daffodils, her favorite flower, and in the other hand was a fluffy-looking yellow chocobo plushie.

Her eyes softened as she stared at the gifts. She dropped her clipboard with a loud clang. "What...?" She took the flowers and the plushie gently.

Squall shrugged. "I just felt like it." Almost shyly, he averted his eyes to the floor next to him.

Selphie squealed and jumped into his arms. "Thank you! We're still on for tonight?" She let go of him.

"Of course," he murmured. He leaned into her, his face inches from hers. He smiled and gave her the lightest of kisses on her lips.

She blushed a bit.

He took out a pocketwatch and checked the time. "Well, now I have a meeting to go to," he told her. "Later." He gave her another private grin and then turned to leave.

"Bye!" she said cheerfully.

Together forever.

But she realized that maybe this was too perfect. Maybe something will get in the way... Seifer and Irvine? No, never. Rinoa? Impossible...

Selphie went back to the ballroom, walking over to where she had dropped her clipboard earlier. She was still contemplating about her previous thoughts. She usually had good intuition... and now was no different. She remember the two times Squall had suddenly turned nervous, as if he woke up from a nightmare. He never told her. She would ask sometimes, but he would never tell her. She wondered a lot what was going on with him. She found herself afraid of asking, because the last time he freaked out, he shoved her away, and knowing how strong he was...

Something was bound to happen.

* * *

Rinoa and Zell, meanwhile, were trekking through the part of Alcauld Plains that bordered the base of the mountains in Balamb. They had taken a Garden car and drove to the end of the road to Balamb but then veered off-course through the grassy terrain.

"So... where is this thing?" Rinoa wondered. Beside her, Angelo was on the lookout for monsters, sniffing around.

Zell, who was walking in front of her, shrugged. He stepped through the long grass easily, his hands in his pockets. "Somewhere in the mountains, I'm told... literally _in_ them, I'm guessing. Once we hit the actual mountain, we can improvise from there."

Rinoa raised an eyebrow skeptically. "You mean you don't really know? That's reassuring."

"Tch, I know supports are supposed to know the location well before taking their candidates out for the prereq, but something kept coming up..."

_(Liar.)_ "Sure, Zelly... sure."

Suddenly, Angelo whined loudly and froze, her ears flattening. She leaned back on her haunches and snarled. She let out a threatening bark, catching the attentions of the humans with her.

The raven-haired SeeD candidate gulped. Her nerves were starting to kick in. "Uh..."

Zell narrowed his eyes, looking at the mountain base carefully. "I think we're getting close..." He glanced at Rinoa out of the corner of his eye. "Let's go!" He started jogging toward the mountain. Angelo ran ahead, sniffing out the trail to their destination. Rinoa began running too, to catch up with her support.

* * *

"Ya know, we haven't gone fishing in a long time," Raijin said.

He, Seifer, and Fujin were sitting in the cafeteria, eating their late dinner. Yes, cafeteria food. Yes, hot dogs.

"Yeah..." Seifer replied, his voice drifting off.

Their table went into silence again, and Raijin was getting a little uncomfortable. This was one of the few times that he had actually sat down and talked to his old posse. It had been a while.

"Wanna do something tonight?" he asked the others.

"Hmm... nah," Seifer told him. "We have homeroom tomorrow... plus the field exam... I wanna actually be a fucking SeeD this time..."

"SAME," said Fujin.

Yeah right.

Raijin gritted his teeth to keep from outwardly raging. "That's never stopped you from going out before, ya know." He tried keeping his voice even, but with all the anger and annoyance in, it was hard.

Seifer shook his head. "Well, I didn't care as much before..."

"SOME OTHER TIME, RAIJIN."

That's it.

"Dammit, it's always like this... I'm sure you two would've jumped in joy at the offer, ya know," Raijin snapped, "if Selphie or Rinoa asked the same thing..."

Fujin looked at him funny. "WHAT?"

"None of you are ever considerate of me," Raijin explained crossly. "All you do is prance around your new friends and then leave me hanging, ya know!"

Seifer let his jaw drop. Where did that come from? "Well, shit, Rai, we're not mind readers! You should've said something..."

"Well, I'm sayin' it now." Raijin glared at the people with him. "Every time I try to get some time to hang out with people, they dismiss me, ya know... but amongst y'all, everything's fine and dandy and go off to your little road trips or whatever."

Neither Fujin or Seifer could really believe what was coming out of Raijin's mouth.

"I feel left out and ignored... can't you all see that?" he continued, his voice rising. "Y'all treat me like a waste of space, ya know. I'm always brushed aside... as if I don't play a big part of your lives." He leered at his posse menacingly. "I'm sick of that. I'm a frickin' tag-along."

The crimson-eyed student was the first to speak up. "Raijin... we didn't mean to--"

"Everytime I talk to my so-called posse, I feel like the third wheel," he went on, "I feel like I don't belong, ya know. It's like I'm looking into some other group of friends! You guys talk about shit and no matter how hard I try, I don't feel like I'm part of it too. Impersonal, ya know. It feels impersonal."

Seifer shook his head. "It can't be completely our fault, then, Raijin! You made yourself this way! You never jump into anything! What the fuck is that?!"

Raijin rose from his seat. "Don't you think I've tried?!" His voice boomed, causing a little fear into his two friends. The cafeteria ladies who were behind the counters looked up, but didn't do anything about the scene. There was no one else in the cafeteria other than the old posse.

Seifer felt his blood boil, not understanding why one of his best friends was doing this. Raijin never acted this way.

"All I am is the dumb guy that gets kicked and picked on by his best friends. Sure I was useful last year with the sorceress shit, but..." the quarterstaff specialist didn't finish, shaking his head in disappointment.

He was always peaceful; dangerous on the battlefield, but harmless around friends. He had a scary aura around him because of his size. Sure, his reputation changed because of what happened last year, but still, like Fujin, he was loyal to his friends.

But now...

Seifer stood up, his hands frustratedly hitting the table. "Dammit... Raijin! Come _on_, you idiot..."

"Raijin, please, we're sorry," Fujin apologized. "We'll do better..."

"Do better, my ass." Raijin started walking away. "I never belonged with the others, and it's not gonna change, ya know. Good-bye, you two. Good luck on the field exam."

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Seifer roared, throwing his hands above his head. He didn't care if the cafeteria ladies heard him or not. He was ready to lash out at Raijin. He was being so baseless.

"SEIFER." Fujin grabbed his arm. "Calm down... your temper won't help us talk to Raijin."

Without another word to his fellow cadets, the dark-toned cadet was already on his way out the door.

Seifer shrugged her grip off of him and walked briskly to the door. "RAIJIN, YOU ASS!" After a little while, he turned to the red-eyed teen and frowned.

Fujin's expression wilted slightly. She had a feeling that she had lost a friend for good.

* * *

Hecate was a tall, dark, and graceful GF with long, pitch-black hair that reached close to her knee. She had smooth, pale, almost ivory skin, light, pastel blue eyes that somewhat resembled the sky at daytime. She wore a black, lacy dress with a full skirt; a wedding dress, complete with a black veil.

Zell and Rinoa had at last found her within the mountains. The path wasn't long and difficult at all. They encountered very few monsters and faced very few obstacles. There were a couple of good draw points, so the two took good advantage of that. They found the GF herself at the end of the path, standing proudly, as if she had expected them. She spoke very little to them, and they spoke very little to her, but they all had an understanding of what was going on. Our two heroes fought hard; it was a tough battle... summons and Curagas and other spells have been used very generously.

_"Very well, I will join you,"_ Hecate muttered in her hollow alto voice after their fight. She spoke slowly, as if thinking about something.

Zell looked at the GF, for a second suspecting something fishy, but dismissed it quickly. Hecate was a GF, after all. She should be trusted.

Rinoa bit her lip in joyous anticipation and nodded. "Thank you," she replied, putting out her hand. Hecate vanished into those familiar pinpoints of light and disappeared into her hand.

"Well, we're done here," Zell spoke up, clasping his hands behind his head. He grinned at Rinoa. "Good fight, huh...?" He stopped, his voice faltering. He saw that the sorceress stood stiff, her expression troubled. She was holding a hand against her chest cautiously in thought.

Meanwhile, the sorceress stood still, wondering what was going on in her head. She felt Hecate settle into the memory part of her brain... something chilled her, making her extremely uncomfortable...

A Dark Force??

_(No,)_ she assured herself. _(Odine said Hecate should be okay...)_

_Should_ be...

A strange feeling started creeping over her... and it wasn't Rinoa herself feeling it. She was... losing control. She had this same feeling when she got possessed by Ultimecia. Something was starting to take over. Ignoring Zell's worried voice as he called to her repeatedly, Rinoa put her hands to her head and tried to un-junction the GF.

_(Odine HAS to be right! He's the most famous scientist in the world! He knows what the hell he's talking about!)_

So why couldn't she un-junction Hecate?!

This was a problem... definitely a problem...

She felt a firm hand on her shoulder. "Rinoa."

She looked up, finding Zell's concerned eyes on hers. She lowered her arms until they fell limp against her side.

"Are you all right?" he questioned. From beside him, Angelo looked at her mistress and whined, also concerned.

_(He needs to know... Squall needs to know... Quistis needs to know... Dr. Odine needs to know... what's happening to me...)_ But... her friends have done so much for her in the past year... she didn't want them to worry again over her.

Deciding to put it off, Rinoa, giving him a small smile, replied instead, "Nothing, Zell. Just tired, that's all."

* * *

**A/N:** _... I'm sorry I threw in all that excess information about the examinations... I didn't really need them, but... I wouldn't be completely satisfied with myself... I don't know, one of those "itches needing to be scratched."_

This chapter seemed noticeably shorter than the others... O.o...

**REVIEWERS' RESPONSES, DOOD...**

**Aramaring:** Lol, don't worry, you were the first reviewer. .  
**emina:** O.o Wow, you reviewed every chapter. Thanks! XD Sorry for the wait, but I finally updated this story, yes. P  
**Sweet Demon Slayer:** Haha, glad you liked that last scene. P  
**Chain-M:** Yup, silly ol' Seifer seems to annoy the heck out of Squall. I love writing Seifer-Squall-humor scenes. D  
**Yuffie Kisaragi2:** I'm glad you liked Azul and Ciel! D I wasn't too sure if my OC's were any good. Thanx for your input.  
**Ai have a boring life:** Yes, yes... Squelphies are t3h awesome. I think they are teh sexy, too.  
**Treesh Aradia:** It's okay if you didn't review chapter by chapter! ) One is good enough. Thanks!!  
**the-curb-fairy:** I agree that it's hard to find good Squelphies... O.o... And, look! Your wish came true! I got you another chapter!  
**Xtreme Nuisance:** Lol, thanks for reviewing! XD  
**Zero-Vision:** Thanks for the input!!


	11. X: Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?

**A/N:**_Well, what a long absence I've had. I'm sorry about the two-year hiatus, but a combination of school, writer's block, and difficult love life has taken its toll on me. But here I am again, bringing you another... SUPER LONG chapter of MICW. Wow, this one is long. I apologize ahead of time for any weird typos or mistakes. I wanted to get this chapter up ASAP and this site's editing system thing still pisses me off.  
_

**Disclaimers:** Final Fantasy VIII and its characters belong to Square-Enix and whoever else rightfully applies. I own only the obviously non-FFVIII characters and the story. The lyrics to "You Are My Sunshine" belong to someone else; not me.

* * *

**Maybe It Could Work**  
_**by Elcyion Pitye**_

* * *

**X. Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?  
**

_You are my sunshine, my only sunshine  
You make me happy when skies are gray  
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you  
Please don't take my sunshine away..._

Irvine rolled over and wrapped the covers around him tightly. Ah, sleep. He was happy to be able to sleep in... it was Exam Week after all. In fact, it was the morning of THE FIELD EXAM. He reached up to scratch the back of his loose, auburn hair, only to feel a part in it that wasn't supposed to be there...

Feeling suspicious, he let his fingers slide down the side of his head... realizing that...

HE HAD BRAIDS.

Letting out a surprised cry, the cowboy immediately sat up, two brownish red braids hitting his back.

BRAIDS.

He grabbed one and stared at it, a scowl on his face. What kind of stupid ass would come into his room while he was sleeping and braid his hair? It made him angry. BRAIDS. He despised these things. The condition of his long, auburn hair had been perfect, with very slight waves... now that he had slept in braids, his hair would become too wavy. And no sir, he didn't like that. ___(Who did it!?)_ He immediately eliminated his roommate Raijin, for he was gone all night, to everyone's worry. Irvine suddenly remembered something. Seifer and Zell had come over. Seifer's idea. The ex-knight thought it would be "cool" for some of the "men" of their group to sleep over at Irvine's dorm the night before the exam, for a little party or whatever. Squall, to no one's surprise, declined. The girls called it a "manly slumber party." ___(So, Seifer and Zell slept over... SEIFER.) _Irvine hopped out of bed angrily. ___(That bastard! Wait 'til I git my hands on that son-of-a-bitch...)._

He rushed out of his bedroom, glared at the empty couch where Seifer had crashed onto. He looked down at the ground next to the couch. Zell was still asleep there, the blanket covering him completely except for the tuft of messy blond hair at the top. Irvine deemed him innocent. The Galbadian looked toward the bathroom. It looked empty.

___Looked._

Irvine turned on the light and pulled the shower curtain away, revealing emptiness. Irvine, still determined to find the culprit, moved toward the front door. It slid open easily when he got close enough. Waiting behind the door was Rinoa Heartilly, with Selphie's camera once again in her hands. He spotted the little red tally light on the front of the camera.

He was being filmed.

"Yer part of this?!" Irvine cried, trying to find some way to hide his braids.

"From the look on your face, I'd say you know Seifer was in on it, too." With the camera still aimed at the cowboy, she stepped into the room. "You can take them out, you know." She giggled.

He took the long braids in his hands and stared at them dubiously. "I'm afraid of seeing what happens t'my hair... when did y'all put 'em in?"

"Um... as soon as you fell asleep," she replied almost guiltily, not lowering the camcorder. "Seifer said you fell asleep first and snuck me in."

"Damn y'all."

They knew how much Irvine cared about his precious hair being in the perfect low-set ponytail set in a perfect angle down his back with the strands framing his face in the perfect, barely noticeable waves. Sure his hair wasn't as perfect as Squall's, but his didn't matter...

___Flash._

Irvine looked up in surprise, finding Seifer standing under the frame of the open door with a still-picture camera. He lowered the camera and laughed... long and loud... in an evil manner. And what do you know, Rinoa joined in. Great.

Irvine spun on his heel gloomily and padded to the bathroom to fix his hair. But all of a sudden, he heard Rinoa cry out. He turned back around in time to see Seifer wrap the same arm that was holding his camera around her waist while one-handedly catching the camcorder with his other hand just before it hit the ground.

___(Smooth,)_ the blond applauded himself briefly.

Rinoa groaned and slowly straightened her back, holding her head in both hands. She stumbled out of Seifer's hold, a weird look on her face.

Irvine crossed his arms and examined her face closely. "What happened?"

Seifer watched her expectantly.

___(That's funny,)_ Rinoa thought, still lost in her thoughts, ___(I felt like... a lot of my strength had been taken away, but I feel perfectly fine now... as if nothing happened.)_

"Hey, Rinny... what's up?" Seifer pressed, handing the camera back to her.

She jumped slightly at his voice. "Uhh... nothing... I was sleepy, that's all," she lied. She braced herself, hoping she was as good a liar as she thought she was.

They both seemed to buy it. "Oh... welp..." Seifer spoke up after a moment, "I think I'll get ready for homeroom." He gave them a nod and jogged out the door.

She was about to follow suit, but the cowboy's hand clamped down on her shoulder from behind. "You're not goin' anywhere," he piped up.

"Um..." Rinoa's voice faltered.

He led her to the couch and sat her down, pushing Seifer's crumpled blankets aside. Irvine put his hair in a sloppy ponytail and seated himself at the kitchen table, careful not to trip over Zell's slumbering self. He stared at her. "Somethin' fishy's goin' on, Rin."

Rinoa looked away. ___(Great, he gets straight to the point.)_

For once, he looked serious. "Is it your sorceress powers?"

No, it's Hecate, she wanted to say, but for some reason she was afraid of them knowing. But they'll find out sooner or later, anyway. Why not now? Rinoa cleared her throat loudly and turned to him. "I..." She didn't know what to say. She didn't want to be fussed over again. She didn't want anyone worrying again.

Irvine waited for her reply. The black-haired sorceress avoided his eyes; she had never seen him this concerned before. For no real reason at all, she absently wondered if this unusually soft side of him was partly why Selphie fell in love with him in the first place.

"Huwaaaaaa!!"

The two immediately turned to sound of what they thought was a yawn. Zell turned from his side to his back and raised his arms, kicking off his blanket.

He blinked, adjusting to wake. "Mornin'."

Rinoa took this opportunity stand up quickly and saunter to the door. "Oh, I should get ready for homeroom!" She smiled uneasily.

Zell furrowed his brows. "Huh? Rinoa?"

She stopped for a second and craned her neck a bit, not quite looking at him, but then silently continued her way out.

Irvine turned to Zell after she was gone. "Is she hidin' somethin' from us?" Irvine asked him. "You know 'er more than I do..."

"Why would that make her tell me?" Zell questioned.

"She liked ya, right? And y'all are best friends, it seems... I just don't want a repeat of last year..."

"..." Zell stared at the door, frowning slightly. ___(Rinoa... what's wrong with you?)_

* * *

"Squall, we need to talk." 

Selphie plopped herself down in his desk chair, swinging herself around a little. Squall was looking out the window of his office, staring down at the parked Ragnarok, which was now being repaired by some mechanics. "Talk?" he repeated absently.

"Um... yeah." Not wanting the mood to be too serious, she grinned and continued brightly, "And then we can..." ___(... make-out? Help prepare for today's exam together in a romantic way?... Make-out?)_ "... Do stuff!!"

"Oh."

___(He's being stoic again...)_ she observed. "Sooo... I'll get right to it."

"..." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Hurry up and say what you need to say. I have work to do."

"Squall..." Her smile faded.

The commander closed his eyes and breathed out slowly. "Sorry, Sefie. I... there's a lot on my mind." He walked over to the Trabian and stood in front of her, leaning down to be more at eye level with her.

"Tell me, then. You don't tell me anything anymore..."

He avoided her curious eyes. "Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?" he put his hands on either side her of her, resting them on the chair's arm rests.

"About the lack of conversation we have? Yeah."

"Tsk. You know I'm a private person." He glared at her. "Don't mother me."

___(Why are you being so cold to me now?)_ Selphie thought disappointedly. "But--"

"Don't try to change me," he interrupted. "Rinoa tried that--"

"I'm not Rinoa," she interjected furiously... but then she suddenly blinked and averted her gaze. She didn't want to look angry. "I... I love you the way you are. You know that, but..." she began. "Squall... you're hiding something from me..."

He shook his head. "I told you--"

"I don't care!" she argued. "Stop being difficult and talk to me!" She dipped her head further, not wanting him to see her cry. "You were so nice to me! You treated me so special! I don't know why... you..."

Squall ducked his head to look at her face and realized that she was in fact, crying. His expression changed dramatically, softening quite a bit. "Sefie..."

"Is it... someone else?" Her voice was small.

"Don't be stupid."

"Don't tell me it's nothing... I know it isn't..."

"..." He looked away slightly.

"Squall... you can have some secrets to yourself..."

"Se--"

"But not this one..."

And then commander's stomach lurched. Maybe Selphie should know, no matter how scary it would seem. Even if she might not understand, she would still try to... because she wanted to and she loved him. He wrapped his arms around his girlfriend fiercely. "Sef..." he began.

Selphie felt his lips brush against her ear. "I saw myself kill you," he whispered.

The moment seemed to freeze. She didn't know what to think then. She supposed that she should be surprised at his confession, but she didn't act like it. Or maybe she should have laughed, because it was too absurd... but with all that had happened in the previous year, she didn't know why he would say that. Why would he think that? Did someone give him these thoughts? Or were these dreams? Visions? As the words sunk into her head, she began to mentally react. How can she still be optimistic after even that? Truthfully, it scared her. What if something overtook him one day and suddenly she was lying in a pool of her own blood? What if... he thought these intentionally? There was always something dark about Squall... no, he loved her too much. She immediately erased that thought. And it won't happen. It wouldn't happen. Never ever happen. But still...

Squall let go of her slowly, searching her face carefully. "Sefie?" Her eyes had dried, but there was a dullness in them he didn't quite understand. "... Sefie?"

Selphie stood up, not saying anything. A smile crossed her face. "It's almost time for the exam, Squall! I'll see you later!" She pushed him away slightly so that she could scramble out of the chair. Without looking back, the nunchaku specialist jogged out of the room.

Squall only stared at the door after she left, an unreadable expression on his face.

* * *

"MAN! This sucks!" Irvine bemoaned as he met his friends Rinoa, Seifer, and Fujin in front of the directory. All the qualified candidates were supposed to meet in the lobby thirty minutes from now. 

Rinoa smirked. "Yeah, you got put in another squad."

"Squad B." Irvine adjusted his hat and scowled. "What are you three again?"

"A," the three of them chorused.

"And I'm leader again," Seifer remarked.

"Whoop-de-do..." Irvine looked around. "I don' even know where m'teammates are..." He scratched the back of his head. "Damn. And I'm the leader for mine, too."

"YOUR GROUP. WHO?" Fujin questioned.

"Archer Locke... he was in the pit for the festival... and I don't know who Brie Sirrr...something is..."

"The library girl with pigtails," Rinoa confirmed.

Irvine blinked. "Oh."

"Raijin got put into Squad D," Seifer piped up unenthusiastically, adjusting his trenchcoat. "Lucky for that guy, I guess."

Fujin frowned. "We need to talk to him..."

Rinoa and Irvine looked confused. "What are you talking about?" the sorceress asked. "Did something happened between you two and Raijin?"

"He yelled at us for ignoring him and for making him feel like third wheel," Seifer responded, turned his face to the directory. "And then stormed out. I don't know where he is... haven't seen the guy for a while."

Irvine rubbed his chin. "Come to think of it... I haven't seen him in the dorm, either."

"That bastard's probably avoiding the rest of the group, too," Seifer muttered, his face set in a glare. "I don't know what to do." Seifer lowered his head and added quietly, "And you can't have the posse with two people."

"SPEAK OF THE DEVIL." Fujin gestured with her head to her left.

Raijin was standing off to the side, talking with his squad. He seemed to be getting along fine with them. He didn't seem to see Seifer and the others not too far away... either that or he chose not see them.

"Why don't you two talk to him?" Rinoa asked. "Don't you want to save the original posse?" She crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah..." Irvine agreed, "how much do you guys... well, love each other?" He paused... and then laughed at how his statement came out.

Fujin glowered at him and gave him a kick in the shin. Irvine yelped in pain and scooted away from the silver-haired cadet, rubbing where she had hit him.

"H-hey, c'mon!" the cowboy continued after he recovered, "So like, ever'one knows Sei Sei lurrrrves Raijin. Look how you stare at him lustfully--"

"YOU'RE ASKING FOR IT!" Seifer seethed, attempting to whack his pony-tailed friend in the head. Luckily for Irvine, he knew this would happen and ducked accordingly.

"I'm kidding!" Irvine cried out, laughing his ass off. "Payback for my fuckin' hair!" His eyes twinkled as he looked at his almost equally tall friend. "Why do you get offended so easily by a man like me?" He grinned slowly. With the Irvine-the-Hot-Flirt grin, that is.

Seifer's face flushed a little as he looked away. Rinoa and Fujin just stared at the gunblade specialist, eyes wide. The raven-haired First Daughter pointed at Seifer, realizing something. "Why the heck did you blush??"

Seifer turned even redder. "..." How the hell was he supposed to answer that?

"Ooooh! You must have a man-crush on Irvine!" She had a wild look in her eyes that he chose to ignore.

Irvine cocked his hat, attempting to look sexy, complete with a pearly-white smile. "I knew I was too hot for Garden. Even the guys all want me..."

"Asswipe," Seifer grumbled after he regained his composure.

The Galbadian pretended to look offended. "But ya didn't deny it!"

"I do so right now!"

Before their conversation could go any further, they heard a loud whistle. Everyone in the room immediately snapped their heads in that direction. At the head of the clump of cadets were Quistis, Squall (who was holding the whistle), Instructor Aki, and a couple of other teachers our non-SeeD heroes did not recognize. The commander stepped slightly in front of the other faculty members and cleared his throat. "SeeD candidates. If you haven't done so already, please find the members of your squad. I'll give you some time to do that right now. If you still don't know who you're with, come to me and I'll tell you. If you can't find them... come to me too and we'll sort it out. Please make this as efficient as possible. There're forty-two cadets; a lot more than last year."

Seifer, Rinoa, and Fujin looked at each other and wandered away from Irvine without another word.

"Hey! That's cold!" Irvine cried.

Rinoa stuck her tongue out at him, but then hung back, beckoning Irvine over to her. Fujin and Seifer were already off in the direction of where Quistis was standing, ready to strike up conversation. "I'm going to talk to Raijin for them," she whispered to the cowboy.

The sniper's face turned vaguely serious. "... Why?"

She tilted her head, frowning a little bit. She glanced at Raijin. "I just think that Raijin wouldn't listen to them even if they apologized."

"..."

Rinoa giggled. "Stop looking so serious, Irvine. It doesn't suit you." She reached up and patted him on the shoulder. "I just want to see everyone happy, that's all."

"Well... yeah. Whatever..." He fished for another topic. "Sooo... you never answered me when I asked about you fainting this morning..."

"None of your business," she answered uncomfortably.

He raised an eyebrow. "I'll make it my business." He shrugged. "I mean, like yer my friend, too..." He looked a little awkward. Selphie was really the only person he could talk like this to. "I was... well, kinda worried. We were 'fraid to lose ya last year, ya know..." He laughed nervously, ducking his head slightly out of embarrassment.

"Right." Despite her rather indifferent response, she felt touched, oddly enough. By Irvine, the resident ladies' man, no doubt. There was a sense of guilt in her gut. Afraid to lose her? She wondered how he would react if she told him about Hecate, a huge weight that was on her shoulders. She didn't want anyone to fuss over her again. She got sick of the princess treatment: always being the damsel in distress, but now she can't be saved, no matter what. Eventually, she was going to, to put in blunt term, die, and who knows what will happen with her friends then?_(What am I supposed to do?)_ she thought frantically. There was no way out of this...

"Rinoa," Irvine pressed, looking at her weirdly. "What's up?"

In a short fantasy running through her mind at that second, the sorceress would tell Irvine, who would tell the rest of their group... and in a miracle, much like them saving the ENTIRE WORLD... they would get her out of this dangerous mess. She knew it was impossible, but... maybe it could work. "Irvine..." Rinoa began hesitantly. "Do you remember what Dr. Odine said about the Dark Forces?"

He nodded slowly. He looked at her again, waiting for her to continue, but by the meaningful nod she was giving him... he realized what she meant. Irvine's eyes grew to the shape of saucers.

___Tweeeeet!_

The two didn't get a chance to finish their conversation. Instead, Rinoa gave him a long look before she ran to her group as the commander went on to explain what they were going to do. Irvine stared after her. Why was she telling him this now?

"Um... Irvine?" spoke up a shy voice.

The cowboy turned around and found that pig-tailed library girl and Archer Locke standing to his right. "Oh... hey," he said in an unusually unenthusiastic tone.___ (Does Zell know? They're really good friends now... what does he have to say about this? When will we lose Rinoa? What will happen when we do? Why can't this be an 'if' question?? FUCK.)_

"We will board the Ragnarok soon... from the front of Garden," Squall droned on, "And once we land, you will all take separate vehicles toward the D-District prison and surround it. Your group support leader will explain things further as we move in closer to the exam site. Now, as you get on the the airship, remember to find your group support person and stick with your team members... even on the Ragnarok. This is a real mission, and I don't want us to have to take time to group up again." Squall looked around. "That's all I have to say. Get on the Ragnarok immediately." He started walking in that direction. Quistis fell behind, looking at the cadets seriously.

"Let's go!" she called hastily, ushering them out. Her eyes fell on each of her friends as some of them passed her, including an anxious-looking Irvine. She noted his expression. Irvine hardly ever looked like this. "Irvine?" she called to him.

He looked at her, blinking. "Quistis..." He went over to her briefly, distressed. "... I have a bad feeling--"

"Hurry it up!" shouted Instructor Aki from the very back, looking pointedly at Quistis and Irvine.

Quistis cringed, glancing down at her watch. They were already running a little late. "Sorry, but our conversation will have to wait..."

Irvine shook his head. "It's about Rinoa... she--"

Not hearing his last bit of dialogue, she pushed him into the crowd of SeeD candidates.

* * *

Zell was at the foot of the ramp of the Ragnarok, watching as everyone started to herd into the aircraft. He was supposed to be spectating... to make sure everyone got on, he supposed. He didn't look very happy about it, either. Zell was a fidgety person. He was not the kind who was willing to stand patiently as a bunch of people walked passed him and he couldn't do anything about it. 

Irvine jogged to the SeeD's side as the rest of his group went ahead and loaded. Zell looked at him curiously. "What's up? Second thoughts, Cowboy?" He snorted at his own remark.

The Galbadian shook his head. "Listen, Zell, ya need to talk to Rin," he muttered in a low voice. "She's been keepin' this secret from all of us this entire time."

___(Rinny? Keeping secrets?)_ Zell wondered. He laughed nervously. "Like what, Irvine? I mean, we already know she likes me and--"

"Odine thought wrong about Hecate," Irvine interrupted, looking a little urgent.

Zell looked confused for a minute. "Hecate...?"

"You remember... her GF? She wanted to get that GF for the prereq..."

"So?"

"She... can't unjunction it, t'put it simply..."

Zell paled. "... Oh." _(Why the hell didn't she say anything to me??)_ "Dammit... DAMMIT." Zell started shaking furiously. ___(I KNEW something was off during her prereq... I KNEW there was something weird about her GF. Why the hell didn't I see this coming? Why didn't I say anything?)_ "Dammit, if I had only listened to my INSTINCTS!" He punched the closest hard surface, which was the side of the Ragnarok. It left a dent. "I could've stopped her from obtaining it!"

Irvine backed away, gulping at his blond friend's strength.

Zell rubbed his temples, feeling more restless than ever. "Shit... are you for real??!"

"She told me herself."

___(What do we do???)_ Zell looked defeated for a second... but only for a second. ___(We don't have time address this right now...)_ "Well, get on the Ragnarok for now." He gestured to the aircraft. "We're in a hurry."

* * *

Irvine hated to have bad things plague his mind, but after Rinoa stopped him to unload her big secret to him, it was all he could think about. He was worried about Rinoa and he was scared. A DF? So little is known about them. ___(Who knows what they could do.) _Something needed to be done. He knew, though, that this wasn't the time and place. It was unfortunate. ___(What kind of name is Dark Force, anyway?)_ he remarked to himself. ___(Couldn't they come up with a better name? Like say... Assassin Force? Now there's a name. It sounds cool and--) _

Irvine stopped himself. He shouldn't be thinking about DFs in a cool way. ___(It's gonna kill a good friend of mine.)_ Those words sank into him like heavy iron weights.

"Irvy? You look nervous about something."

The sound of Selphie's voice caused Irvine to look up. He then realized that the entire time, he had been sitting against the wall near the elevator that took people to the cockpit. How he ended up there, he didn't know. He was just wandering around the Ragnarok during the flight and stopped to think. He felt too restless to simply sit with all of the other chattering, bubbly, excited SeeD candidates. He gazed up at the emerald-green-eyed girl before him. His smile betrayed his uneasiness. "Nervous? Surely ya jest, Sefie."

She flashed him a small grin and stood directly before him, bending down slightly to look at him. "You know, if I were any other SeeD, I'd get you in trouble for wandering the Ragnarok while it's flying. All the students are supposed to be seated."

"Even Squally-poo would?" he joked. He expected her to joke back or laugh or something, but instead, he saw her smile falter. In turn, his own dissipated. "... Somethin' happen, Sefie?"

___(Yeah, my boyfriend had visions of killing me.) _She shook her head, the thought of Squall saying that to her already sending a shiver up her spine. "No, I'm fine, Irvy."

He wasn't convinced. "Well, if Mr. Grumpy isn't treatin' you right, I'll stick my rifle up his grumpy ass." She didn't respond. He watched as Selphie moved, slumping down against the wall next to him. He couldn't help but silently stare at her. Despite her childish appearance, there was some well-hidden sophistication behind her eyes. It attracted him, more so than the floozies he was used to hitting on. It wasn't only that, but also her energy, her playfulness, her radiance, her happiness. She was a fun and caring person. Her attitude about life made him happy. Those factors and the cute expressions on her face was what he loved about her. It was too bad he came too late in letting her know that.

He slung his arm around her in a friendly manner. "So what's been bothering you, Sefie?" She tried not to frown, but he knew better. "C'mon, I'm yer best friend! You can tell me! I won't judge." Beat. "Well, not too much, at least."

"It's not that important," she told him lightly. "It's not like Squall hit me or anything. Nope, he would never ever ever EVER lay a finger on me like that." To confirm her statement, she beamed at him in reassurance.

Irvine knew that she was hiding something. It wasn't every day Selphie got depressed over something. Well..._(Maybe I take that back,) _he thought. ___(She's changed... more emotional, more sensitive... She's even matured a little.)_ "What did he do?" he pressed. "I know it has to do with him because of the way you reacted when I said his name."

"I can't say..." The expression in her eyes were unreadable.

"You can't say?!" he echoed incredulously. "Sef... is he hurtin' you in anyway? I mean, really. You need to tell me these things." Of course, it'd be unusual if Squall did. He was rather gentle with Rinoa when they dated. But you couldn't be absolutely sure about things...

Selphie had half of a pout on her face. "Hm... it's... hard to explain."

"Well, you know I want you to be happy."

She stared at the ground, speechless. It got her wondering why Irvine, and even Seifer, bothered to act so normal around her when she told them flat-out that she didn't have feelings for either of them. They probably loved her, but she couldn't reciprocate. It was a weird feeling that she didn't like at all. No one ever confessed to her until this year.

She felt guilty.

Irvine had no idea what she was thinking. He was about to say something else, but in a quiet voice, she finally spoke up. "Stop it."

He was confused. "Stop what?"

She didn't reply. From the look on her face, he concluded that she was thinking of what she was going to say next. After a while, she piped up with, "Why... are you so nice to me?"

___(Where the hell did that come from?) _he wondered. He raised an eyebrow at her. Wasn't it obvious? "I'm your best friend," he answered, although it sounded more like a question than a statement.

She shook her head. "No, that's not what I mean--"

He sighed. "Hey, don't change the subject."

She ignored his words. "This has kinda bothering me for a while... but after I rejected you... why are you still such a good friend to me? Don't you like, have a grudge against me? You and Seifer? Because like... I did. From when I still liked you." She bowed her head, as if in shame.

She was right. Secretly, he held a grudge against her and Squall. Irvine was sure that Seifer felt the same. If he could, he would steal her from the commander, but neither boy wanted those feelings to strain their friendship with Selphie and Squall. After all, they both wanted the two of them to be happy, no matter what. He raised an eyebrow at her, his mouth pulled into a small, lopsided smile. "Why would we hold anythin' against you?"

"Because I--"

"'Coz nothin', Sefie," he cut in. "You're my best friend. My friendship with you is more important to me than unrequited feelings. Especially because they're, y'know, unrequited. You agree, right?" His arm still around her, he pulled her in for a one-armed hug.

The ends of her lips turned up a little. "Yeah..." she replied softly. ___(I guess everything really is back to normal... the way it should be,)_ she thought, her mood brightening. "Thanks." Irvine could tell that some of Selphie's energy had returned to her.

___(My bestest friend ever,)_ the green-eyed girl gushed to herself. She definitely missed moments like this and was glad there will be many more to come, now that everything has been resolved. She leaned against him. "You'll always be my Irvy, right?"

He laughed in a relaxed manner. She didn't even have to ask. "As long as you'll always be my Sefie." The two went silent for a moment until Irvine decided to bring up Squall again. "So... about Squall..."

She cringed a little, her smile slowly disappearing. "It's a long story... and a hard one. I'll tell you later." ___(I don't really want to think about it right now, anyway...)_ she added silently. She nudged him in the side. "Besides, you have the exam to worry about."

Irvine scowled. He had nearly forgotten about the field exam, even though they were probably almost at the exam site. He also almost forgot about Rinoa's predicament. "Yeah," he replied, "there's something I wanna talk to you about later, too." ___(Actually, on second thought...)_ "Hm, maybe it's better I tell ya now."

She tilted her head up at him curiously. "About what?"

"It's about--"

"Irvine?" came a slightly surprised male voice.

The two friends stopped, whipping their heads around to face the intruder. It was Squall. He had just come down from the elevator. The commander had a somewhat wary look on his face, his eyes shifting from Irvine to Selphie. "What are you guys doing?" he asked rather suspiciously.

"Squall," Selphie spoke up, a little surprised by his sudden appearance. She pulled herself to her feet. "We were just talking. You know us."

Squall looked a little more relieved. "Oh," he said in response. He looked at Selphie, who was now standing in front of him. His heart stung a little as he remembered the way she reacted when he finally told her what he had been "dreaming" of. He hoped she put what he said earlier behind her. He hoped she only saw it as a weird, unfortunate nightmare. Nothing more. He couldn't say the same for himself, though. However, for the moment, he just wanted everything to be normal. "Hey..." he muttered, not know what else to say.

Selphie could tell he felt bad about what he told her earlier. Looking up at his hopeful expression, she couldn't stay depressed for long. Squall loved her and she loved him. No stupid vision can win over their love for each other. She was scared because of those words, but she trusted Squall. She had yet to learn about why he was having them, but they can figure it out and stop them. Together. "Hey," she replied, smiling. She reached for his hand and held it.

From behind the couple, Irvine had stood up and started walking toward them. "Hey, Squall," he piped up in a serious tone. "Good thing you're here--"

The Lion looked at him. "You should get back to your seat," Squall interrupted, wondering why he was up in the first place. "We're landing soon."

Irvine pursed his lips together. ___(I don't want to keep waiting to tell them...)_ "But Commander, this is important."

Squall sighed. Selphie looked at the cowboy quizzically.

"What is it?" the commander prompted.

Before Irvine could answer, the Ragnarok shook, the normal shaking that indicated that the airship had hit ground. Squall turned to Irvine. "Sorry, but this'll have to wait until after the exam. You need to stay with your group."

Selphie had to agree. "Yeah, with this many people taking the exam, we need everything to be organized very very quickly."

The Galbadian held in another sigh, seeing their point. ___(But still...)_ "All right," he finally said. He reluctantly turned back toward the seating area.

"Good luck, Irvy!" Selphie called happily.

Irvine stopped and craned his neck to give her a warm smile. "Thanks, Sefie." After that, he gave the two a wave good-bye and a tilt of the hat and disappeared down the hall.

* * *

After exiting the Ragnarok (which was parked a safe distance by a nearby wooded area), the four-person SeeD vehicles (which were familiar to everyone but Rinoa, for these were used in the previous year's exam) were driven out of the aircraft by nameless SeeD members to their assigned positions at the site. Some of the cars were supposed to curve around to the back, where the squads inside those certain vehicles were assigned to the other towers. As for Quistis and Squad A, the four of them were inside a SeeD vehicle, riding across the sands. The SeeD candidates were, of course, assigned to a task inside the building, but the instructor was assigned to wait outside their tower with the vehicle. 

"Okay," Quistis began, looking at the three students sitting down before her. She clasped her hands down in front of her. She smiled.

"Okay," Seifer repeated, waiting for her to go on.

"Okay?" Rinoa echoed, looking clueless. Angelo was sleeping at her feet.

"OKAY," Fujin uttered, a little impatient.

"This task is simple," Quistis finally continued. "You are to take out REVOLUTION. If you encounter a member of a higher rank, bring him or her to us. Alive. We want information." She passed around files similar to the ones Squall, Selphie, and Firion had received on their mission months ago. "These people made it known to us that they are going to aim for the prison," Quistis informed them. "I don't know what they're going to do there, but I think since they found out where we're going to have our field exam, they've made it a mission to get us. They don't seem like the type to trick us by not showing up." She let out a breath of nervous air. "You guys... be careful. You know this mission is real. And since we are dealing with the same people who bombed the Balamb Train Station, we don't know what could happen."

Seifer let out a long sigh. "Yeah... well..."

Suddenly their vehicle halted, sending the seated candidates forward from their seats and the standing instructor to the ground. Angelo bumped into a wall, but otherwise wasn't hurt. It didn't stop her from barking like crazy, though.

"Shit!" Seifer cried from the floor. He glared at the front of the car, at the driver, but didn't allow himself to comment about it.

Once everyone had scrambled to regain their footing, Rinoa glanced at Quistis seriously, wondering if she should tell Quistis now about the troublesome thing on her mind. "Hey... Quistis?" she started slowly.

The blonde turned to look at her. "Hm?" Seifer and Fujin faced her as well, ears open.

Looking at who she was talking to, Rinoa was a little scared of these certain people's reactions. "Uh..." Maybe she should wait until after the exam... from what she heard from the SeeDs and the other administrators, they were running late as it is. "Nothing! I forgot!" She giggled nervously.

The others just stared at her funny.

"Hey! Shut up!" Rinoa cried, crossing her arms. "Meanies..." She looked to the side.

"We didn't say anything," Seifer replied. He cocked an eyebrow at her. "You're the one acting weird, Rin." ___(I wonder if she's okay... She hasn't been completely herself lately.)_

"At any rate, we need to get back to business," Quistis reminded them. "We're here already."

The candidates obediently began to file out of the car. As soon as Seifer was outside, he stared up at the D-District Prison, his expression a little serious. Seeing the place again reminded him what happened oh-so-many months ago. It felt like another lifetime. He was a different person back then. He didn't like remembering his past as a knight, but it was at D-District Prison where he had imprisoned and tortured his friends, confessed to and retold the entire ordeal afterward to soldiers, stayed in jail for a while, and apologized to the world for his time with the former sorceress. Those things would always stay with him.

He didn't hear Quistis come up beside him until she greeted him softly. "You look pretty somber, Seifer," she commented humorously. "Intimidated by the exam?"

He turned to her, pulling his lips into a smile. "Naw, you're mistaken, Quisty. I was just admiring the architecture."

She nodded slowly, but he was obviously lying. She knew he was a little awkward about being at the prison. A lot for him had happened there. Not only him, but the rest of their friends as well.

Rinoa and Fujin (and Angelo) were the last to unload the car. They too came up beside Seifer, ready to go. "Well, what are we waiting for?" Rinoa wondered, looking from Quistis to Seifer. "I'm ready to kick some ass!" She pumped a fist into the air.

"CHEESY," Fujin remarked, smirking at her roommate.

"Hey!" Rinoa protested indignantly. "I can't help being excited, you know!"

"WHATEVER."

"Okay, Squall!"

Seifer rolled his eyes, his gunblade resting against his shoulder. "Well, if you women are finished, I say we get a fucking move on."

Quistis looked down at her watch and then at the cadets. "He's right. We're getting short on time. Hurry up and go!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Rinoa answered enthusiastically. She gave Angelo a quick pat on the head and started for the door of the prison, which was a few feet away from where their car was parked. Fujin gave the blonde woman a short nod and followed after the raven-haired sorceress.

"Remember that I'll be waiting here with the car!" Quistis called after them. "And call me on the radio when you're done!" She had given the squadmates radios when they were still inside the SeeD vehicle. Cell phones were not allowed at field exams, so the only form of communication were walkie-talkie radios. "Good luck, Rinoa! Good luck, Fujin!" Quistis continued as they disappeared behind the door.

Seifer smirked at the door where they had gone through and glanced at his instructor again. He was going to do it right this time and become SeeD for sure. His excitement for the exam was evident on his face. He loved a challenge. "See ya, Quisty!" he exclaimed with gusto. "And don't wish me luck! Ya know I hate it!!" He began jogging off.

"Good luck, Sei Sei!" she replied to him, laughing.

Just as he was going to enter, he turned back to Quistis and simply smiled at her. It was a cocky smile, one she had seen countless times this year and last, but this time, something about it made her heart flutter. It made her happy._He_ made her happy, and she couldn't help but smile back.

* * *

Bethe gulped in anticipation. She held her flail close to her, along with the machine gun that REVOLUTION had supplied her with. Although she had put up a front of being tough and bossy, she didn't do too well in missions where she acted by herself. Especially since she felt so confused at the moment. 

___(Stupid fucking Ciel... she's really outdone herself...)_

She checked her watch. It was almost time for the field exam. As the redhead hid herself behind the banister next to the fourth floor stairs, awaiting any SeeD candidates who would run by, she thought back to their briefing...

___"... The kids coming here are SeeD candidates," Jarek spoke up, looking at the group of fifty before him, including Ciel and Bethe herself. They had managed to take out the first level personnel and prisoners without anything more than scratches and bruises. "If we take them all out, we take any future SeeDs out. Our strategy here is simple. We all split up into designated areas and make them bleed." He watched his subordinates very carefully. "And," he continued in a warning tone, "do NOT under ANY circumstances go against my orders NOR are you allowed to do any of your own plans. It's possible that it could mess us up." Suddenly, his head perked up slightly, noticing a movement in the otherwise still and attentive audience. _

___"Ciel?" he called, narrowing his eyes, noticing her and the machine gun she held in her hands. Her eyes were as evil as ever, glaring at him in a mocking intent. Everyone started stirring, finding the blonde in the center of the group. Wordlessly, she aimed her gun at Jarek. All of the other REVOLUTION members gasped in surprise. Jarek continued to look down at her defiantly. He wouldn't admit to himself that her eyes still troubled him greatly. "What are you doing?" he voiced quietly. "Put that down--"_

___Ciel fired before he could finish. Holes suddenly adorned his chest. He looked down in numb shock, teetering back slightly. "Bitch," he hissed, looking back at her. "I knew you went crazy..." He grunted and doubled over, holding his wounds. "But I... didn't think you'd go this far--"_

___She shot him again. She kept on firing until she couldn't anymore. When his body hit the ground, she started laughing maniacally. She threw the machine gun down and cast her eyes on the blood-splattered tile floors and the blood-splattered REVOLUTION members who had happened to be standing a little closer to the now-dead Jarek. Everyone in the closely-knit crowd parted, creating a pathway for Ciel as she began her walk toward his corpse. When she reached him, he kneeled down beside him in triumph. After putting her hand in the pool of blood around Jarek, she stood up again and faced the faction. Her dirty hand was at her side, dripping with the red substance. _

___"What are you waiting for?" Ciel asked, her voice boldly echoing throughout the room. Stunning everyone once more, she moved her bloody hand up to her face and let it slide down her cheek, creating a heavy red handmark on her otherwise unblemished face. "Kill them."_

___For a while, no one moved. They were all unsure of what to do now that Ciel had taken out their leader. But finally, after what felt like forever, the group moved at once, dismissing themselves as Ciel looked on silently._

___Were they supposed to do things as planned? Were they supposed to kill the prisoners too? What does Ciel want? The other members of the faction decided to go with Jarek's original plans, and went off to their previously assigned areas._

Bethe shoved the image of Jarek's death and the "new" Ciel out of her head and pressed her back closer to the wall behind the banister, hoping to blend in. She forced herself to concentrate, for the sake of completing the mission.

* * *

Squall sat atop the Ragnarok, drinking from a water bottle as he watched all of the cars raced to the prison. They were too far from D-District to simply walk or run there, but he still had a good view. The Ragnarok was landed on a spacious but low hill at a safe distance, surrounded by scarce forests. He and some remaining SeeDs, including Selphie and Zell, were left behind there as backup. Several others, like Quistis and some other professors, were to stay at closer distances, a quota of them actually joining the candidates inside to closely monitor the students' performances. 

He heard the click of familiar boots behind him. "Sefie?" he called.

"Hey Squally," came the reply. Selphie moved to sit beside him and stared out at the Desert Prison. "I talked to Raijin today, on the Ragnarok," she said with a pout. "He didn't seem to really want to speak to me. He was... a little aloof, you know?"

Squall shrugged. "Aloof? Doesn't sound like him..."

"I know, right?! So then I asked Sei Sei about it... and then he said that it was because Raijin didn't want to be friends with the Posse OR us! Can you believe that?? Raijin supposedly said that he felt left out and so left ___us_, Squall. He felt left out because of ___us_."

_S_quall turned to her. Her voice had quivered and it could only mean she was crying, or about to. "Sef... why are you...? This isn't something to be crying over." He hastily wiped a falling tear from her face, letting his own face inch closer, inspecting her expression. "You're not a crier... you're a noisy ray of sunshine." He grinned at her slightly, aiming to make her feel at least a little better.

She shrugged. "I always thought... that all eight of us were like... super good friends or something..."

"... Really?" Squall didn't think that any of them were that close... but that was just him.

"Yeah. That we were this group of friends... and we had this strong bond, you know, all of us liked each other and could depend on rely each other... and we could all be happy together." Her pout deepened. "And then one of us breaks away and... acted like he didn't even care. It feels as thought I didn't matter to him... that I didn't mean anything to him. I felt as though I wasn't... a good friend to him... We made him feel that way. I should've been a better--"

"Okay, Sefie, now you're just rambling," Squall interrupted. He put his arm around her, pulling the Trabian closer. "Don't take it too hard. This will blow over."

"But..." Selphie stared down at her boots, lightly kicking her dangling legs against the aircraft's surface. "What if he doesn't want to be part of us again? What if the rest of us falls apart like that?"

He stared at her. What the hell was she talking about? "...?"

"I never thought about it before..." she continued avoiding looking at him. "But... what if our group of friends start slipping away too? It happened with Raijin, who I wasn't even close with in the first place... but I felt I should've done something to strengthen our friendship..."

"Hold on," Squall broke in, "why are you getting so worked up over--"

"I... lost most of my friends in Trabia," she continued softly, her voice so small that Squall, being right next to her, barely heard her. "And I've lost contact with the single friend I had left there."

Squall sighed quietly. "Sefie, you're not going to lose any of us--"

"But Squall! What if..."

___"Squall!! Remember me!! Don't... kill me..."_

Squall gritted his teeth at the vision. It can't seem to leave him alone. ___(Shut up!)_

___"I love you..."_

___A river of blood, a magnificent gunblade suddenly coated with red... his own gloved hands pushing the weapon into Selphie's stomach..._

___His cold, steel eyes traveling to the betrayal in those sad eyes..._

___(I said shut up!)_

"Squall...?"

___(Shut up!)_ "Selphie," he said firmly, his expression clearly irritated. He didn't mean for his anger to be taken out on her, but the visions were really getting on his last nerve. "Everything is fine. We're fine, Irvine's fine, Seifer's fine, Quistis is fine... we're all fine. No one is going to leave you. Now stop wallowing in self-pity and stop being a baby."

Selphie paused awkwardly for a little bit and then forced a laugh, trying to hide the fact that she was about to cry again. ___(Funny. The Squall I knew was a lot nicer and showed he cared about me...)_ She hated that she was crying more this year than the rest of her lifetime. "Yeah... that was... dumb of me, huh?"

He stood up and turned his back on her, facing the desert landscape nearby. "Look, I know you love me and all of your friends..." he said in a more tamed tone, "but we want to be left alone sometimes, okay?" Before she could say anything, he walked away without a good-bye, leaving Selphie to wonder about him. She reasoned that he had those visions about her again. She came to that conclusion from the dark, faraway look he had in his eyes when she was in the middle of talking. She supposed those visions could be a valid excuse. Since Squall didn't like them, they provoked him to the point that his anger was taken out on her. She still hated it all, though.

What she still didn't understand was why he would have them in the first place. It kind of reminded her of the times when Ellone would send them back into the past, but Selphie knew their Sis didn't have that kind of power nor did she have the incentive to torture the commander or even Selphie herself like that.

But it wasn't like Squall could help that he had the visions or nightmares or whatever, right? He wasn't able to predict when they came, right?

He wouldn't ___really_ kill her, right?

She wanted to talk to him again, but she didn't want to bring those up; it was a disturbing subject for her, and she could imagine it might be for her boyfriend, too. She wanted to help him. It was just a matter of how. ___(Squall... help me understand. Let me help you...)_ Selphie bit back tears. ___(No... I have to concentrate on other things. The field exam's counted as a SeeD mission.)_ She turned from her position on top of the aircraft and headed inside.

* * *

"S-So..." Brie began, charging up the stairs after Irvine (the squad leader) and Archer. "We're supposed to go to the control room at the top and deactivate... what?!" 

"There's a bomb up there," Irvine explained quickly. "Archer here's s'pposed to be good at hacking into that kinda thing--"

"Yeah," Archer spoke up, panting as they continued their way up. "Apparently, it's intricately connected to the system. So we have to be extra careful not to press anything on the panel and just concentrate on the controls on some little box."

Brie nodded, understanding the situation. "But then..." she wondered, "... then... Squall planned for there to be a bomb?"

"What?!" Irvine exclaimed, almost laughing. "Hell naw! He'd never! He gave me and Archer 'mergency instructions (you were in the bathroom) t'go immediately to the control room 'stead of the third floor."

"Apparently," Archer said, "there were already SeeDs dispatched over there before we arrived, making sure everything at the exam site was in check. They discovered there was a bomb at the top. I don't know how they did it, but... they did."

"Oh."

"And we have," Irvine peeked down at his watch. "two and a half hours before we die." He snickered.

His two squadmates gulped.

* * *

_"_This is so lame!" Seifer wailed on the fourth floor, where he and his squad were supposed to be stationed at. "Where is everybody?!" He scowled. "Can't believe we didn't fight anyone yet! Maaan!!" 

"SHUT UP," Fujin said irritatedly. She kicked him in the shin. Unfortunately, that made Seifer whine even more.

"When did you become such a baby?!" Rinoa exclaimed. She didn't know whether to laugh at him or to be mad. She did neither. Instead, she shook her head and turned around. They should be scouting the entire area, not stand in one single place on their floor. Just their luck, a red-haired young woman crawled out of her hiding place (which didn't really hide her at all from Rinoa's point of view) and started walking to them slowly.

Rinoa smirked. Another REVOLUTION member. She could tell from the chains. She had a feeling that this one was somehow... special. Like she carried something important. She knew her teammates felt the same way. A leader? "Waiting for us?" the sorceress asked aiming her projectile weapon at her. Seifer and Fujin both flanked her, readying their own weapons.

The woman smirked right back. She recognized the blue-clad girl as both the sorceress and the daughter of the newly inaugurated president of Galbadia. "You could say that. I was waiting for the right time." She looked behind Rinoa at her teammates. She instantly recognized them. "Oh, look..." she said with feigned shock.

Seifer narrowed his eyes at her. "You're that chick from before... from when the Balamb Train Station exploded..."

"No shit," the redhead snapped. "And my name is Bethe. Don't call me 'chick' again." She took a practice swing with her flail and put herself in a defensive position. "Now come at me... I dare you. And don't misjudge."

Fujin glared. "MISJUDGE WHAT?"

Instead of answering, Bethe jumped high into the air at an unusually fast speed. Seifer was stricken. She wasn't this fast back in the hotel room. But then again, there wasn't much room there for them to even move around... Bethe landed behind Fujin, who wasn't quick enough to turn around before the anarchist swung the flail at the other's back. Fujin flew forward, landing facedown on the tile floor. The back of her jacket was now stained with blood.

"Fujin!" Seifer cried, shooting a look at her.

"I'm fine..." Fujin said rather weakly, pulling herself up. She swayed slightly, but she was still able to fight. She just needed to hold off for a little bit.

Rinoa immediately reacted by throwing a projectile at her. Bethe batted it away easily with her weapon. The projectile hit a wall, thrusting into the metal of it. Seifer wasn't so successful at laying damage on her, either. As soon as Rinoa's attack backfired, he swung his gunblade at her, only to have the chain of the flail wrap around the blade of his weapon. The ex-knight growled and gritted his teeth, pulling at his weapon before it flew out of his hands. ___(Didn't this happen before?)_ he wondered. He pulled harder. Bethe was surprisingly strong.

Just then, an unusually strong Water spell blasted the REVOLUTION member away from Seifer, who fell back and landed on his back. Thankfully, he still had his grip on the gunblade. Seifer looked behind him and found Rinoa glaring at their enemy, her hands in front of her as if she had finished a spell. ___(No way,)_ Seifer thought in disbelief._(That Water spell was... amazing... how can she pull something like that?? Do her sorceress powers enable her to be strong like that?)_

Bethe crashed into a wall far across from the SeeD candidates. She slumped against it, falling fast to the ground. Was she unconscious? Rinoa took a few steps forward, searching for the answer.

"Heh," the redhead coughed, evidently weak from the spell's attack. She struggled to get up on her shaky feet. "I'm not done with you stupid shits."

Rinoa scowled and wordlessly slammed an Ultima into her. Bethe let out a defeated cry and slumped back to the floor. "I wasn't done, either," she sneered, a look on her face that was unfamiliar to her teammates.

Fujin winced, sensing a change in the girl's aura. Rinoa was going overboard. "RINOA. ENOUGH."

Seifer nodded, raising an eyebrow at the sorceress' sudden aggression. "Yeah... she might be a vital resource for like, information and stuff." He walked up to his teammate and grabbed her arm. "So don't kill 'er."

"Hm?" Rinoa turned around, an innocent expression gracing her face. She looked slightly confused. This in turn made Seifer confused too. "Hey, what's that look for?!" he cried. He tsked and proceeded to pick up the now unconscious Bethe. He kicked away the previously abandoned flail and started walking away from Rinoa.

Rinoa scratched her head, honestly not knowing what was going on. "Why'd you yell at me?" she asked Seifer.

He stopped and shook his head. "Woman, don't play dumb with me!"

Fujin withdrew her weapon. "RINOA. NOT YOURSELF."

Rinoa still didn't understand. "... What?"

Her silver-haired teammate sighed. "For the last few minutes, you were acting oddly... assertive. It was like you went berserk, only you didn't." She then took out a walkie-talkie and went off to the corner to contact Quistis.

The black-haired girl shook her head and laughed at them. "Oh, come on, I bet she had some Berserk stocks on her or something and cast them on me."

"Rinoa..." Seifer said. "We're not fucking around--"

"Well, whatever, we need to go," she interrupted. "Let's get her to base before she wakes up."

Fujin nodded. "I contacted Quistis about it already. She knows that we're on our way."

Seifer glared at the two of them. "Fine, then, try and ignore me while I'm talking." He started leading them back out. "I'm not done with you, Rin. You're pissing me off."

Rinoa looked almost hurt. "Hey now! What's your problem??" When Seifer didn't reply, she turned to Fujin for an answer. Fujin just patted her on the shoulder and followed Seifer out of the area.

* * *

Zell was too preoccupied with his thoughts to think about the exam. Rinoa, what happened on his mission at Balamb... it weighed so much in his head. Maybe too much. He readjusted himsef in one of the pilot seats in the cockpit, trying to get comfortable. He was going to be there a while. 

___(Rinoa... how did... why didn't I catch it? Why didn't I listen to my instincts? Why didn't I say anything while Hecate permanently junctioned herself to Rinoa??)_ He balled his hands into fists. He had always used those very fists to solve problems. Saving the world? No big deal. Just call on Zell Dincht and he can beat up the enemies to a pulp. But now… what could he do? These forces they were dealing with now were poorly researched. Zell didn't like to feel useless, but there he was, doing nothing but think._(I should block this out of my system for now. Wait until after the exam to say anything to Squall and Quistis,)_ he thought rationally. So he turned his thoughts to Brie, out of all people. Earlier, as the students were loading and before Irvine unloaded that important piece of information to him…

___Zell watched student after student enter the Ragnarok, starting to get bored. What kind of idiot would assign a hyperactive SeeD soldier to stand and make sure the others behaved? The martial artist sighed in exasperation._

___After a while, he noticed a particular student, someone he was hoping he wouldn't run into or even see from a distance. (Brie,) __he acknowledged hesitantly. He looked at her, suddenly feeling tight in the chest. This was probably guilt. (No,) he corrected himself, (This is definitely guilt.) Zell realized that he overreacted to her feelings for him. He had never had anyone confess to him before, so he didn't know how to act. He realized a long time afterward that he handled it very badly. (We could have been friends, at least,) he thought, unaware that his eyes were still boring into her. (Maybe she'd like that.) Zell blinked, surprising himself with his thoughts. He tore his gaze away from her and pretended to find the ground fascinating. It was rare of him to think maturely like that._

___Brie started to pass him silently, keeping her eyes facing forward. She couldn't afford to look at him. Not this jerk who rejected her with anger and annoyance. She could feel his eyes on her. It made her a lot more self-conscious. What did he want? What kind of look was he giving her? She didn't recognize the expression on his face; it was usually full of life and determination, but now he looked... unhappy. Was he upset? Maybe the very thought of seeing her again in person after a long time made his blood boil. (Does he want a piece of my mind? I'll gladly give it to him,) she thought sourly. It was clear that she was still bitter about the whole ordeal._

___The library girl stopped in her tracks, making sure she wasn't in the way of any other SeeD candidates trying to get on the Ragnarok. She turned to look at Zell, who she saw wasn't looking at her anymore. "Hey," she called cautiously, her voice tough and unfriendly. "Zell."_

___He looked up slowly, his eyes meeting hers. "Hey," he replied simply. He had no clue as to why she was speaking to him. Inwardly, he felt a little nervous around her, wondering if she was going to slap him again. Even if he could easily dodge and block hits aimed at him, a girl's slap was always unpredictable to him. And those things hurt like hell._

___Brie was at a loss for words. She had the nerve to greet him... now what? After taking a moment to gather her thoughts, she finally spoke up again. "When I get back... I'll make sure I'll become SeeD... and then I'll surpass you in prowess."_

___Zell finally cracked a smile, amused. Prowess? What kind of teenager used the word 'prowess' in spoken language? He sure didn't._

___Brie glared at the grin he gave her, thinking it was a mocking one. "I'll do it, Zell Dincht. I'll... I'll make sure you're no longer as high as you are now." She tried to sound mean, but Zell, of course, has heard a lot meaner._

___The martial artist shrugged. Hey, it wasn't a great restart of a friendship, but it was better than nothing at all. "You've got a deal, Brie." He smirked. "I can't wait to see what you're made of..."_

___She then left in a huff. Zell returned to watching students board the airship, immediately spotting Irvine coming up to him in an unusually serious expression. At the corner of his eye, he swore he saw Brie turn back on the ramp and look at him. Not in an angry way, but maybe in a hopeful one._

Zell could at least hope for that one burden to be finally lifted. His gloved hands clenched into fists in frustrated helplessness. He wish he could say the same about everything else bothering him.

* * *

About an hour later, Squall, who returned to sitting on the head of the Ragnarok in a perfectly balanced position, noticed, through his very expensive binoculars, that a few groups were coming out. He could spot Seifer, Rinoa, and Fujin, racing through the doors and into the sands (where Quistis was waiting outside for them), to their truck, and on their way to the airship. He had expected them to be one of the first groups to finish. He was surprised, though, that Seifer was carrying an unconscious person over his shoulder. A female with red hair. Clearly a member of REVOLUTION. He recognized a set of chains worn by the redhead. The commander came to suspect that the person in the group's hands was someone special, a leader or a higher ranked person in the anarchist organization. He was anxious to get to talk to that person once she comes to back in secure facilities at Garden. If he got her to talk, then they would be able to have all the information to resolve this issue and the world would be safe again. 

"Good job, Squad A," he whispered. He spied on them a little more as the three of them loaded the girl into the back of the truck they had used to get to the prison. He shifted his magnified gaze over to a few of the groups with people he didn't personally know. Everyone seemed to be in relatively good shape. Squall wondered why if those anarchists were easier to beat than Seifer, Irvine, and Fujin, let on or if there weren't that many members to begin with. Even with that, how can they cause so much destruction? Were they just packed with weapons of mass destruction? Did they have impeccable strategies? He wasn't sure, but he guessed that he would find out through the unconscious anarchist now in Balamb Garden's hands.

Squall panned the scene once more with his binoculars, in time to see Raijin's squad make it safely. He supposed that most, if not all, of REVOLUTION had been taken out or is close to being so, judging from the students who had eventually made it to near the airship via the trucks. However, he didn't see Irvine's squad among the other candidates. He calculated that maybe three or four squads at the most were still inside. His jaw tightened nervously. He briefly glanced down at his watch before going back to the scene. The cowboy, Brie, and Archer didn't have a lot of time until the bomb in the D-Prison supposedly explodes, destroying the entire facility. There were thirty minutes left. He picked up his radio (also very expensive) from his belt and contacted Instructor Aki, who was supposed to be inside the exam site.

"Aki here," the the instructor answered.

"Check the squads still inside the buildings," the commander ordered in a tight voice. "Time's cutting too close. Get them out of there."

"Yes, Commander," came the static-y response. "Instructor Doloron and I will go."

End conversation. Squall then tried to radio Irvine's group (since he was technically in charge of them), but he got no response. Frustrated after many attempts, he put his radio away.

"There's a lotta students by the Ragnarok. Is it over?"

It was Selphie again. Squall turned to her slightly, lowering his binoculars. "Almost," he replied in an indifferent manner. He stood up and carefully moved away from the head of the Ragnarok to somewhere that gave him more secure footing, and ended up standing directly in front of her.

She avoided his gaze, even though she tried to act normal. He noticed from her body language that she was actually starting to shy away from him. Something painful tugged at Squall's heart as watched her. He stepped in, as if to bring her into his arms, but he didn't let himself hold the girl to reassure her. He was afraid that those weird visions would come back and cause even more strain between the two of them. "... Squad B's not out yet," he told her.

"That's Irvy's squad."

"Yeah." He paused slightly. "I told you, right? About changing his group's objective?"

"The... bomb thing." After the words left Selphie's mouth, the couple faced a period of awkward silence. Her voice told Squall that she was extremely worried about her best childhood friend. The commander himself couldn't help but be anxious as well. Time was too close for comfort.

Selphie spoke up again, giggling. Her laughter sounded nervous to both of their ears. "Hah... I bet Irvy's taking so long to be dramatic. They probably got it deactivated a while back and are on their way down as I speak."

"There's a possibility that they might still be working on it. Or even if they destroyed the bomb a while back, they might've encountered problems... like REVOLUTION members," Squall countered quietly. "Plus, I couldn't contact his group. I received no response on the radio." He could imagine Selphie frowning at his response, a little pout that Squall thought was cute. "But..." she started, her voice drifting off. She paused and then said. "You should've let the cadets use their cell phones. It would've made things easier."

He shook his head. "It would, but rules are rules."

___(The most retarded rules I've heard of...) _"But..." she started again. She didn't say anything else after that. What could she say?

"I trust that his group will get out in time," he went on. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have chosen Squad B to go to the control room. Don't worry about them."

"Squall, I can't just--"

"It's fine, Selphie. They'll be fine." Not only was he convincing her, but he was convincing himself as well.

His overconfidence was making her angry, but she did not address this fact to him. Instead, she scowled at his back and whispered, her voice unusually chilly, "You better be right..."

He turned his head slightly, taking in her words. However, he didn't reply as he heard her scurry away. When her footsteps were out of hearing range, he looked toward the direction she left, the slightest bit of hurt expressed on his face. He wondered if that was what he sounded like to her... that cold tone she used on him just now. He didn't know if she's spent enough time with him to "get it down," but he didn't like the way she talked to him at all. Some part of him was mad, sure, but the ache in his heart was stronger. ___(There's no time for this, though,)_ he reprimanded himself. ___(I need to concentrate on the task at hand.) _He narrowed his eyes at the prison. ___(Squad B better come out safely.)_

* * *

"Whew! I'm still pumped!" Irvine proclaimed, laughing as he defeated a REVOLUTION member trying to make his way to the top. All that sorceress hunting the year before definitely did wonders for his increasing strength. 

Brie slipped out a small smile, putting away an extra stock of Curaga she drew from their last enemy. "Y-you're pretty strong, Irvine," she answered. "I wouldn't have been able to defeat them on my own." The library girl turned to the last member of their squad, who was working out the very last kinks of the bomb deactivation. She and Irvine were doing all the fighting, leaving Archer, who was the expert in this sort of thing, to do the deactivation itself. "How are you doing, Archer?"

From the control panel, Archer turned around and gave them a reassuring look. "Apparently, I just finished." He moved aside to let his squadmates take a look at the large mess of circuits and cords that have either been cut or switched with others. "Just in time, too."

___(I wonder if he knows he uses the word 'apparently' a lot...)_ Irvine wondered.

_"_Even so, that was faster than I thought..." Brie commented thoughtfully.

"Well," Irvine drawled, drawing out the word slowly. He cocked his hat down a little, in a smooth and collected fashion. It was the trademark Irvine Hat Tilt, guaranteed to make the girls swoon at his feet. Even Brie was blushing. "I guess we're done here, y'all."

"And we can take our time," Archer added cheerfully.

Irvine, the squad leader, looked at his teammates proudly. Working with them wasn't so bad at all. Hell, give the three of them a little more time together and they could even be friends. His eyes shifted from Archer to Brie, who was beaming triumphantly. Her smile at the moment sort of reminded him of Selphie.

However, before the three of them could turn around, a feminine voice resounded throughout the room. "You aren't going anywhere."

Irvine was the first to spot a gorgeous, but clearly dangerous blonde woman standing at the doorway. He recognized her. She was in Balamb that one time when he was with Fujin and Seifer. With his rifle over his shoulder, he smiled darkly, waiting for the right time to cock his weapon and fire at her. "Who says?" he challenged. "Those are some big words fer a pretty li'l lady like you."

He heard Archer and Brie come up on either side of him, preparing themselves for a battle as well.

The blonde, Ciel, snickered as she gracefully stepped in closer. "Cut the smooth talk." She seemed to have finally recognized Irvine. At this, she let out another small laugh. "Cowboy. Isn't it nice that we meet again? Your little hat clashes with the rest of your uniform."

Brie and Archer both stared at him in disbelief.

"Kazeno, Almasy, and I encountered her back in Balamb," Irvine muttered in response to their unspoken question, not taking his eyes off of their enemy. "The day the train station collapsed." His flashed the terrorist a sneer. That event alone made him want to strangle the terrorist. "Isn't that right, Blondie?"

"What an unoriginal nickname," she scoffed.

"Maybe you should tell us your real name, then," he countered in a snappish manner.

Her violet eyes scanned the three of them. Irvine couldn't tell whether or not the expression on her face was amusement or of a sinister nature; it could even be both. She smiled rather maliciously at them. "Why would my identity matter? I'm just here... to get rid of the SeeDs."

The sniper smirked. "That's what they all wanna do. Get rid'a SeeD. You're no different."

"Hm, I guess that's true," replied the woman, taking a few more steps forward. Up close, Irvine noticed something very dark and dangerous about her. He didn't think it was present when he was in Balamb with his fellow cadets. "I'll just have to let my weapon do the talking." She took out her bow gun and aimed it at the squad leader. In turn, Irvine lifted his rifle, the newly upgraded Blood Shark, and aimed it at her forehead. Brie, with her sai, and Archer, with his quarterstaff (the same weapon as Raijin's), both put themselves in battle positions, ready to attack if necessary. The four of them froze in their spots, wondering who would make the first move.

"Hey, Archer," Irvine whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

"What?" the other cadet whispered back.

"Protect the control panel." It was most likely that the REVOLUTION member knew about the bomb. And if she knew how to reactivate it (if there was a way, at least), he wanted to make sure it didn't under any circumstances.

"Right." Archer fell back from the group, backing up slowly until he stood protectively in front of the control panel.

Ciel caught on to this move immediately and smirked, but she didn't say anything.

"Well?" Irvine spoke up tauntingly, narrowing his eyes at the blonde. "Are ya gonna make your move?"

Instead of snapping back at him, her bowgun's aim on Irvine shifted swiftly from him to the timid Brie. She fired, sending three arrows at her at once. The three SeeD candidates didn't see this coming, and were alarmed when the arrows hit her right in the stomach. The pigtailed girl dropped to the ground, hunched over on her knees. Blood spilled out of her body and to the ground. She gave a short cry but shakily pulled herself to her feet, not about to be beaten by one attack. "I'm o-okay!" she shouted weakly to her teammates.

Irvine cursed under his breath and wasted no time retaliating. He pulled the trigger of Blood Shark, firing a few good shots with Demolition ammo. Unluckily for him, not only did Ciel try to dodge by moving to the side, but his bullets were also deflected by her Aura spell. It was a weird thing to the squadmates, though, because the three of them noticed that the Aura spell seemed very strong. A regular one would have given her at least a little damage, but the terrorist didn't seem to be affected at all. Either that or she had a lot of luck. From behind the sniper, Archer frowned as he thought about that. "She apparently received no damage," he said to Irvine cautiously.

"Yeah, no shit," the ponytailed cadet murmured grimly. The conversation was immediately cut short as Ciel fired again, once again, the arrows coming at them three at a time. It must've been a setting she put on the gun. Irvine let out a "Whoa!" as he ducked to avoid the arrows. Archer wasn't as fast as his squadmate. He was able to barely avoid two, which hit the TV monitors next to him, but the third managed to hit his shoulder. Archer grimaced and rushed forth with his staff. He wouldn't dare stall because of an injury.

But before he could swing at her, a Fire spell shot past his vision and hit the terrorist from the side. Archer turned his gaze to the direction it came from. It was Brie who used the spell (a weak one, but she was still a newbie at magic). She seemed to have used Cure on herself. The arrows were pulled out of her and she less ill and more energized. Unfortunately for this spellcaster, the Fire barely affected the blonde woman. Ciel turned to Brie and flashed a smug smile at her as she lifted her bowgun in her direction.

At the same time, Irvine, who was still on the floor, aimed his sniper at her whilst in a crouching position, setting his sights on the woman's legs. He figured that her barrier would be fading away by now. He fired a few shots at her, but to his bewilderment, Ciel barely moved, but it was enough to distract her from shooting at Brie again. "Shit!" he hissed, seeing that the Aura was still going strong. ___(But how?)_ he wondered. Irvine has used Aura so much that he knew perfectly how long one stock of it would last. But the anarchist's Aura was surprisingly quite strong, and the auburn-haired cadet had no idea... unless...

Irvine's thoughts were interrupted as a Break spell came at him. He dodge successfully, sliding to his right. He could hear, from somewhere behind him, Archer called for a Dispel. The cowboy silently applauded his teammate for having stocks of those. He himself sure wasn't smart enough to think that he might need them.

But returning to his thoughts... he finally came to the conclusion that this REVOLUTION member carried a DF, after remembering what Odine had said the time he and the gang visited his lab. In fact, after thinking it through some more, he was certain of it, although he didn't know which one she could have. But it was no wonder the vibes she gave off were so eerie.

As Irvine went to paying attention to the fight, he found that Archer's Dispel had actually pulled through. The cowboy was impressed, but Ciel seemed startled. She didn't expect her Aura to be knocked off by another magic spell. She gritted her teeth, pondering her next move. Brie, on the other hand, used this opportunity to bring out the big guns: the GF she received for her prerequisite, Nine-Tails.

A part of Irvine panicked. If his teammates brought out their GFs, then it was possible that the blonde would counter by bringing out her DF. And after his first experience with Reaper, he was afraid of what kind of power his enemy's summon would unleash. Very, very afraid. But nevertheless, he had to stay strong and triumph.

Nine-Tails, a golden, majestic fox with (obviously) nine fluffy tails, appeared before the three SeeD candidates. Irvine, Brie, and Archer backed up a bit to give the fire-based GF room for battle. Nine-Tails' pulled her teeth back into a sneer, growling. It was a scary thing to have a Guardian Force look at you like that, but Ciel seemed unafraid.

___"Brie Sirea,"_ Nine-Tails said in her soft, brassy voice. ___"Your command. Shall I attack?"_

"Yes," the pig-tailed girl whispered. "Give it all you got."

Without a word, Nine-Tails charged, jumping forward and at the last minute, twirling so that her flaming tails slapped at Ciel. The attack sent the terrorist flying into the wall behind her, smoke rising from her. Ciel hit it soundly, but she didn't fall. She recovered rather quickly, weakened but definitely still able to fight. She turned and faced her opponents again, her face and body imprinted with Nine-Tail's scorching damage. She smiled, and that signaled to Irvine that she had something else up her sleeve.

___"I sense something odd about this enemy,"_ Nine-Tails commented quietly, her dark, slanted eyes boring into Ciel._"Something odd and dangerous. We must be careful."_ With that, the GF lowered herself on her front legs, ready to pounce.

"Odd?" Brie repeated, perplexed.

Making a few choice hand gestures, Ciel summoned her Dark Force. Black mist shot out of her hands. A hunched over figure in a black hood slowly made its appearance. ___(Fuck!!)_ he yelled to himself with dread. ___(This woman has Reaper! But I thought it was that guy with spiky black hair who had him...)_ His heart racing, Irvine immediately turned to his teammates. "Guys," he started urgently, "when that thing lifts its head, cover your eyes. Whatever ya do, don't fuckin' lay your eyes on it!" Brie and Archer looked confused, but they quietly agreed to follow the cowboy's words.

Like Irvine expected, the world around them went mutedly silent as Reaper reared his head in what looked like slow-motion. And like he expected, his teammates bowed their heads to avoid eye contact with the DF. Irvine did the same. However, Nine-Tails snarled and, without Brie's consent, leaped forward. With his peripheral vision, the gunman watched as Brie (while trying to keep her eyes away from Reaper's sight) give Nine-Tails a wide-eyed stare. "Nine-Tails!" she hissed.

"What is it?" Irvine queried, giving her a worried look.

"She's already going for her special attack; I can feel it..."

Archer chose to chime in with, "Apparently, she doesn't seem that affected by this attack we're allegedly hiding from."

"Meaning we can look up as long as my GF is blocking our view," Brie concluded softly. At her words, the cadets carefully peered up from their bowed positions. Nine-Tails was bigger than Reaper, and although the latter floated in mid-air and should have been at a higher position than the grounded fox GF, Nine-Tails was tall enough to guard the three of them safely.

Narrowing her eyes because of the lack of activity in the current battle, Ciel's voice suddenly rang out snobbishly. "You think you can hide from Reaper forever? Get a load of this, then!" She turned to her DF. "Reaper, cancel your normal attack. Do Grotesque Mosaic, now!"

There was a thoughtful silence on Reaper's part. No one (except for Ciel, probably) expected him to actually answer (does that DF even talk?), but a cold, raspy voice that sent shivers down our heroes' spines spoke up slowly with,_"Very well. I will triumph."_

___(Grotesque Mosaic?)_ Irvine repeated in his head. ___(Wasn't Terror Kaleidoscope the name of the attack he got us with in Balamb?)_

___"You will never win,"_ Nine-Tails uttered dangerously while still in mid-air. ___"As long as I am here, you will be defeated."_ In routine of the GF's Limit Break, her body ignited, gold flames surrounding her as she stopped to hover a good distance over her enemy. She grew brighter and brighter, as if she was charging shortly before the ultimate hit. "Golden Comet," Brie whispered, fascinated. She had only used Nine-Tails a couple of times before, but she had never gotten to the point where the GF had to use a Limit Break, especially when in regular battles, it took a longer time for a GF to gain enough power to do one. ___(She must really see that other one as a real threat,)_ the library girl guessed.

Nine-Tails, in the middle of the roar of the frightful fires on her body, let even more flames engulf her as she dove at Reaper, her speed fast and her strength at its maximum. It seemed, in the cadets' eyes, that she had succeeded. A fireball -- or to go along the lines of the attack name, a comet -- seemed to have taken the GF's place, hiding her within the flaming depths. A gigantic crash resounded throughout the room, maybe even throughout the world.

But it was not as it seemed, as the three cadets discovered disdainfully. The crash didn't come from Nine-Tails' attack, but from Reaper himself. Grotesque Mosaic was unlike Terror Kaleidoscope in that there were practically no problems with looking upon Reaper and immediately collapsing to the ground in trauma. For the current attack, the DF seemed to have built some sort of magical barrier around itself, encasing its body within what looked like a sphere. It was no ordinary barrier, though. Swimming across the barrier's surface were innumerous faces, bodies, and dismembered body parts of ghostly figures. In front of the sphere were a couple of these ghostly figures sticking out. One was a long-haired woman with a broken neck, sticking her hands out as if to grab whoever dared to come near. Another resembled a bald male man with a cloth blindfold over his eyes and sharp teeth in his mouth. His hands were also reaching out for its enemies.

As for Nine-Tails herself, her comet failed. Upon contact with the barrier, her fireball exploded all around her, reflecting from the Grotesque Mosaic to her body. Nine-Tails let out a long howl and fell back, landing with her back legs on the ground, her head bowed wearily, and her front legs we unsteadily holding her up. The flames around her were gone. A few seconds later, small pinpoints of light began appearing, and the KO'ed GF began to disappear, as those of her kind always do when they couldn't battle anymore.

"Oh, Hyne..." Brie gasped shakily.

"Shit," Irvine cursed in a low voice as soon as Nine-Tails was gone. He took his aim at Ciel, who was standing somewhere to the side of Reaper, with his gun. He expected her to glare at him or to snap at him, but she smiled instead. It was a dark smile, an evil one that caught even him, a seasoned fighter, off-guard. It was a frightful smile, and he didn't understand why it disturbed him. It delayed his pulling the trigger. He even lowered the barrel.

"Reaper. Return," she barked, her light purple eyes still on him.

___"I am not finished,"_ came the chilly reply. With that, the DF, with his barrier still intact, used one of the apparitions attached to it to lash out at the person closest to it: Archer. Unable to react fast enough, Archer let out a startled cry as the blindfolded ghostly figure raced to him at a blinding speed. The ghost easily slipped his hands into Archer's body. Neither Brie nor Irvine knew what it did, but it caused Archer's body to convulse for a few seconds until he collapsed to the ground, unmoving. The ghost returned from whence it came after that.

"Archer!" Brie cried, momentarily stunned. She ran to him, rapidly taking out a Phoenix Down.

While she was doing that, Irvine chose to summon his own GF for the fight, using the one he got from his prerequisite. ___(C'mon, Byakko, let's fight this piece of shit,)_ he said silently, watching the terrorist with cautious eyes. On his command, a large white tiger with fur that seemed to glow in the dimly lit control room, promptly appeared before the cadets. Not wasting any time, Byakko silently began to fight, his teeth pulled back in a snarl. Byakko cast Break on the DF. It had no effect on Reaper. A little confused, the tiger took a step back, contemplating his next move.

Archer, who has recovered a little after a Phoenix Down and a Hi-Potion thanks to Brie, spoke up quietly so that only his teammates can hear. "Fighting this is impossible..."

Irvine didn't want to correct him by saying that Reaper wasn't exactly a Guardian Force, but there was no time to explain those things. "I don't wanna assume it's impossible," the cowboy replied. ___(Even though it really seems that way at the moment,)_ he added to himself.

Byakko was about to go in to physically attack Reaper, but before he could move, both apparitions in Reaper's barrier shot out, moaning in anguish as they disappeared inside of the tiger. Byakko let out an painful roar and stumbled around, not knowing how to get them out.

"Well, damn!" Irvine couldn't help shouting in annoyance. "How many diff'rent fuckin' attacks does th'fucker have?!" He was frustrated. How were they supposed to beat Ciel with this practically invincible Dark Force?

Byakko finally dropped to the ground, his heavy body toppling over to the side. The barrier ghosts left the GF and returned to their base. Irvine could only watch, scowling, as his GF began to disappear.

"Will you return now?" Ciel uttered impatiently, glowering at her DF's back. "I want to finish them off."

___"Why must I go back?"_ Reaper replied calmly. ___"It is far too entertaining to take out these imbeciles one by one."_ It was obvious that Reaper and Ciel didn't get along very well; the DF was not too keen on listening to her. Irvine couldn't figure out if it was a DF thing or they just weren't compatible.

"Listen. To. Me," the terrorist said forcefully, enunciating each word threateningly.

___"No."_

"That's it," she whispered angrily. She shifted the black strap she was wearing so that she was able to hold her machine gun. In an odd turn of events, she sprayed Reaper with a shower of bullets into his back, the REVOLUTION chains she wore rattling as the gun vibrated. Reaper froze in place, the barrier around him shattering. Letting out a raspy cry, he disappeared, KO'ed from her attack. No one could rejoice at its disappearance, however, as another cry, an agonizing by familiar-sounding one, abruptly followed it. Irvine and Brie whipped their heads to their left, finding that the bullets that had pierced Reaper had gone through him and hit Archer as well. The quarterstaff specialist slid to the ground, his chest full of holes.

What just happened? Irvine had no idea how he and his squadmates weren't able to injure Reaper but that terrorist could. Shouldn't it be the other way around? ___(It must be another DF thing...)_

The next part of the battle went by too quickly for the SeeD candidates' liking. Irvine raised his Blood Shark again, but never got the chance to shoot, for he heard the rattle of the machine gun again. Irvine fell backwards, his back landing on the cold, hard floor. His hat left his head and his rifle landed somewhere near him, but he didn't know their exact locations. The pain on his chest and stomach was excruciating. He groaned, trying desperately to pull himself up. He felt like his body was burning. The sensations should have been familiar to him, because of the soldiers he had fought during the sorceress thing, but he never got used to the pain. Especially since Ciel shot more at him than a bunch of those soldiers put together. ___(Shit... SHIT,)_ Irvine thought as he struggled slowly to drag himself to his gun. ___(I can barely move!)_ His body was adamant in not responding to him properly as he extended his hand feebly for his gun. Whilst doing so, he heard a feminine yelp and more ___chaka-chaka_ sounds next to him. He didn't need to turn his head to know that Brie had gotten shot by the machine gun.

Irvine felt a jolt of pain shoot up his body and suppressed another groan. His vision was starting to show dark spots; he was on the verge of fainting. ___(Fuckin' hell... I need to heal. Dammit. Heal heal heal.)_ Irvine haphazardly reached into his pocket for a Hi-Potion, but reflexively froze when he saw a pair of black boots in front of his face. He could only react as one boot suddenly came at him, hitting his cheek, nose and his upper lip. Irvine tasted blood as he felt his body hit the side of the control panel. He hated that woman even more for touching his face.

___(Hah, what a thing to be thinkin' 'bout at a time like this.)_

He pulled himself off with all the strength he could muster, pushing himself up onto all fours. The cowboy could hear machine gun making its rounds again, shooting at the already injured Archer and Brie. Archer let out a cry. Irvine lifted his head enough to see Archer lying face up, his chest barely moving but was still alive. Technically, he was knocked out and needed a Phoenix Down fast or else he was a goner. "Shit..." Irvine managed to mumble through his injuries as a tiny drop of blood oozed out of the side of his lips. He pulled his eyes away from him and to his other teammate. Brie was slumped in a sitting position against the side of the control panel, right under where the bomb had been deactivated. She wasn't KO'ed, but was pretty damn close to it. Unluckily for her, Irvine didn't think she had enough strength to even attempt at attacking or even healing herself nor Archer. Irvine couldn't reach either of them, but he also needed to do something for himself in order to even consider helping the others. He reached for his Hi-Potion again and took a long swig of it, every last drop. He felt a little better. He no longer felt faint, but that didn't stop the pain coming from his wounds.

As for Ciel, she lowered the machine gun slightly, looking down at her handiwork. She seemed satisfied at Archer's condition and smirked at him. She walked forward, toward the control panel, staring at it with a look Irvine couldn't recognize on her face. She strongly kicked Brie to the side with her foot. She was in her way. The cadet was pushed off the ground for a second or two and then back on the ground, her head hitting the ground. KO. The terrorist laughed softly under her breath.

___(The bomb!)_ Irvine screamed in his mind, realizing what she was going to do. He needed to act quickly before she did anything. He had a strong feeling that she was really going to reactivate it. So he crawled, trying not to grimace at the burning feelings in his body, toward his abandoned rifle. He grabbed it with a shaky hand and then whirled around to aim the barrel at her head.

Ciel stole a glance at him. She was able to hear him shuffling about in the otherwise silent room. She turned back toward the panel and grinned darkly. She wasn't scared of the gun aimed at her. In fact, she seemed to welcome it. Irvine didn't understand this, but no matter. He pulled the trigger... and missed. Rare of him to do so.

Irvine realized that he was a lot shakier than he originally thought. Missing was his own fault. He pulled up his other hand to steady the grip, but it wasn't that much better. It didn't help that he was still very much hurt and weak.

Ciel took out some kind of cartridge and held it up for Irvine to see. He was the only one conscious by now. "I took this from my leader's body," she explained quietly. She held it above a certain area of the control panel, next to where the wiring for the bomb was.

Irvine watched her warily, his gun still aimed at her. "So?" he replied angrily, his voice hoarse.

"I killed him," she continued casually.

___(Why would she do that?)_

"He showed this thing to us earlier, saying that it self-destructs this building of the prison in case anything happens. I don't know where he got it from. It was a little too late to ask, if you know what I mean."

"..." Irvine wondered why she was telling him this.

The anarchist let out a long laugh. A maniacal one that truly frightened the cowboy. "It doesn't matter... it does its job." She looked at him again. Irvine stared back, bothered by the look in her eyes. If he could describe that expression in one word, he would label it as ___KILL._

He frantically reached in his pocket for more ammunition for his gun.

Ciel shoved the cartridge into the control panel.

Irvine realized that his pockets, his jacket, his everything did not contain ammo. He must have used it all while fighting the other REVOLUTION members. He probably had only a few bullets left in his gun. He gritted his teeth and realized what a perilous situation he was in, especially when he saw that the TV monitors lit up, all showing something identical.

_**10...**_

A countdown.

___**9...**_

"No," Irvine murmured. He had to hurry! He pulled himself into a sitting position, one leg with a knee on the ground and the other leg pulled up so that his foot was on the ground, supporting him.

___**8...**_

Ciel faced him full-on, waiting for him to shoot her. She still held her gun firmly in her hands, ready to take him on. Her look said, ___I dare you to shoot. There's no point now._

___**7...**_

___It's too late._

___**6...**_

_I_rvine pulled the trigger, only to have his eyes widen. The gun was empty. Shocked, he dropped it. The gun made a loud ___CLANG!_ as it hit the ground. However, he refused to give up on taking her down. Irvine made a few choice hand gestures with his bloody hands, signalling that he was going to do some kind of magical spell.

Ciel's lavender eyes blinked as she watched him. Bringing the machine gun back up, she quickly took aim and fired.

___**5...**_

That all-too-familiar rattling pummeled through the cowboy torso point-blank. His magic spell abandoned, he fell onto his back, the torturous sensation of the bullets piecing his flesh and into the inside of his body taking its toll on him. Irvine tried to breathe, but he found every action, even something so simple as breathing, extremely hard to do.

___**4...**_

Irvine rolled over slowly to his side, pushing himself up with his hands. He could feel and think about nothing but the horrible pain coming from the bullet wounds on his torso. He let himself slip out a loud grunt as he twisted open the cap of a Hi-Potion with his teeth.

___**3...**_

___(There has to be a way. There HAS t'be... I can't let this happen! I won't let myself die here!)_ Irvine took a swig of the healing liquid and tossed the empty bottle nearby. He had to get to the control panel. With slippery hands, he grabbed onto the edge of the control panel to pull himself up.

___**2...**_

"Death is waiting for us, Cowboy."

Those were the last words Irvine heard from her. After that, Ciel fired the last of her bullets into his back. He latched onto the panel, refusing to sink to the ground again to give in to the throbbing pain. ___(Hyne, just give me more time! I can do this!)_

___**1...**_

Too late.

___**0... **_

___SELF-DESTRUCTION,_ the monitors said.

Irvine's eyes went wide.

___(No!)_

It was all going by so fast. Way too fast for him to think straight, if he could think at all. When he heard the thunderous boom all around him, the last thing -- the only thing -- he thought of was his and Selphie's conversation back on the Ragnarok.

___"You'll always be my Irvy, right?"_

___"As long as you'll always be my Sefie." _

Everything went white.

* * *

**A/N:**___Yeah... sorry. Nothing against Irvine. I love the guy, too. And sorry if my writing was confusing at all. This chapter spanned like, what? Two years? Holy shit._

___Anywho, I've been thinking. I usually listen to music while I type up stories, and there are certain songs (for some reason or none) that remind me of the stories and/or its character(s). So I thought... hey, soundtrack. I'll probably think up a soundtrack and make some mp3 rotation-type entry on my LJ. Not my personal one, but the one I have specifically for fanfics, stories, and poetry. The link to it is on my author profile, if you've never been to it._

___And speaking of music, the songs I've been putting on repeat for this chapter? "Angel Eyes" and "White Fox" by M.O.V.E. Along with "Move Along" by The All-American Rejects and "Hana Chou Fuusetsu" by BYAKKO (a boss song from Beatmania IIDX: DistorteD). Yeah... I'll post about the music thing later. _

___Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Bye!_


	12. XI: Move Along, Move Along

**Author's Note:**_ Whew, sorry about that really long hiatus. This chapter spanned a lot longer than necessary, but I've been phasing in and out of fanfiction. Of course, though, I wouldn't abandoned this story. If I start something, I have to finish it!_

_To make up for the wait, this chapter's extra long. :D_

_Eh, I'm not too good at making descriptions and such of explosions... so what I have already will have to do. -.-_

**DISCLAIMER:** Final Fantasy VIII is not mine, but Square-Enix's and whoever else rightfully applies. Yes, the chapter's name comes from song lyrics that belong to The All-American Rejects and not me. I made up a few characters, though. You'll know who they are.

* * *

**Maybe It Could Work**

_**by Elcyion Pitye**_

* * *

**XI. Move Along, Move Along Like I Know You Do**

Selphie hoped it was a dream. She hoped to Hyne that it was. As her eyes turned from Quistis to the sudden, incredible boom from the prison, she prayed over and over that she would wake up. It couldn't be real... because the last time she checked, Irvine's group was still in there.

She vaguely heard Quistis shout for her to head into the Ragnarok. Gloved hands forced her toward the airship. The grip was so strong that it hurt, but it wasn't like Selphie was paying attention to the pain.

Sand flew up from that area, and everyone could see black smoke coming from the prison. The sound of the explosion was deafening even at this distance, and it left Selphie's ears ringing. It didn't help that everyone around her, instructors and even some of her friends, were yelling and screaming. She spotted Squall, from the top of the Ragnarok, yelling out for everyone to head inside the airship immediately. The sand was being blown their way.

_(This isn't happening...)_ the Trabian thought to herself, making herself believe it wasn't. She started to chant the phrase in her mind incessantly like a mantra. She wanted to hit herself so that she could wake up.

* * *

Quistis watched as a cloud of smoke and fire rose up from the prison, thankful that she, the SeeDs, and the cadets were far enough away, despite the cloud of sand and smoke coming at them. However, she noticed that there were people missing. Her jaw went slack and she began to tremble, horrified.

Only one building out of the three interconnected ones blew up, but it caused the other two to topple and collapse to the ground. The squad she was in charge of, Seifer, Rinoa, and Fujin's, were already rushing inside the Ragnarok, the unconscious REVOLUTION member still draped over Seifer's shoulder. Quistis noticed that Selphie was doing nothing but stand still, gaping at the scene with the most terrified look the blonde had ever seen on her. "Selphie! Get inside!" she yelled. She grabbed her lifeless friend and pushed her toward the airship.

Her blue eyes quickly darted around, checking to see if everyone was safe. Out of her friends, she noticed that someone was missing... _(Irvine!)_ her mind yelled, terrified for her friend's life. Even so, she couldn't allow herself to simply stand around and do nothing for the people around her. She was a leader and needed to act like one. For the sake of the people of Garden, she had to take action and keep everyone safe and calm, so she decided to help by helping the other SeeDs get everyone inside. Checking out ground zero after the disaster was over was a job for SeeD, not cadets.

As for what was happening that moment, there was nothing anyone could do but watch and wait.

* * *

From the cockpit, Zell looked through the Ragnarok's windows, stunned. "You're shitting me..." he whispered as he watched the disaster take place. If he remembered correctly, at least one squad was still in the prison. The one he knew for sure was Irvine's.

_(No! This can't... FUCK!)_ Zell had to restrain himself greatly from ruining the Ragnarok's control panel. He stood up in frustration, his hands pulling at his hair. _(Not only Irvine... but Archer, wasn't I his support for his prereq? And fucking... fucking Brie! Goddamn, I'd just made up with her, too.)_

"DAMMIT!" Zell yelled. He sunk to his knees and punched at his pilot seat. He buried his face into the cushion as he felt tears stinging his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. He couldn't cry. He was a man! He wasn't a weak little chicken-wuss like Seifer had endlessly called him back in the day, but nonetheless, he couldn't help but think of how useless and stupid he was. From rejecting both Brie and Rinoa to gawking helplessly as the two senators were pulled into the train tracks to watching an explosion before his very eyes.

He heard footsteps behind him. He figured it was maybe Nida, who was the Garden's main pilot.

"I... I take it you saw, Zell."

It was indeed him. "Yeah, no fucking shit, Nida!" the martial artist yelled, jumping to his feet. He looked ready to pound something... or someone.

Nida backed up a little, raising his hands in front of him, hoping Zell wouldn't lay one on him.

After a while, the blond finally calmed down, slumping back into the chair he had been sitting in before. He leaned over, his elbows propped up on his knees, and hid his face in his gloved hands.

As for Nida, he didn't say anything. While he wasn't particularly close to anybody who had been affected by the explosion, he could certainly feel the pain the others must be going through right now. Nida didn't know what else to do other than to go up to his fellow SeeD and place a hand on his shoulder in consolation.

* * *

When it had gone silent (except for the fires burning at the site of the explosion), Squall, who was among one of the last to head back into the Ragnarok to avoid the smoke and sand, exited down the ramp as the fog of sand and dust in the air was finally starting to clear up again. His face was grim and his brows were furrowed in worry. His hands were getting clammy. He had to remove his leather gloves and stuff them back into his pocket.

He hoped, that by some miracle, that Irvine's group and whoever else was still there made it out somehow. But sooner or later, he would know, anyway. It was time to assess the damage. Squall gritted his teeth. _It_ hasn't completely hit him yet, but he knew that this was the last thing on his mind. He didn't count on one of his childhood friends possibly dying on him.

He heard Quistis and Zell come up behind him. At the sound of their footsteps, Squall turned around gloomily and greeted them. He saw that they looked just as worried. If it weren't for their duties as SeeD, the commander knew that the both of them would be breaking down.

"Two cars, including drivers," Squall began quietly. "I want our top SeeDs in two of the trucks. No one below Level 20."

Zell, a Level A SeeD (as is the rest of the SeeDs in their "orphanage gang"), shook his head and clenched his fists. His head was down. Squall couldn't make out what kind of expression the martial artist had on his face. "I... I can't do this, Squall..." came the quiet reply.

Quistis glanced at the other blond briefly but didn't say anything. She looked like she was on the verge of tears, but being as strong as she was, she refused to let herself cry at a time like this.

Squall continued, ignoring the conditions of both of them. "The rest of SeeD need to stay here and watch over the cadets. We're going to look at the damage."

Quistis took in a shaky breath and spoke up, her voice barely audible. "Shall we inform the Headmaster?"

"I told him already. While we were inside."

Suddenly, Rinoa, Seifer, and Fujin came bounding out of the Ragnarok. At their arrival, Squall gave Zell and Quistis a nod of his head, indicating that he wanted them to proceed with what he asked. The two SeeDs saluted mutely and headed off.

Rinoa was sobbing audibly as she stopped in front of Squall. She looked up at him hopefully, hiccuping as teardrops ran down her pale cheeks. He looked at her for a second, his face expressionless, and then looked away. As much as he didn't like seeing her cry like this, there was nothing he could tell her that would be somewhat optimistic.

Seifer looked upset, but if this were any other time, Squall would have thought he was angry. That was just how Seifer's face worked, he guessed.

"Where's the red-haired woman?" Squall asked, noticing that Seifer no longer had her with him.

"Still unconscious," he answered emotionlessly. "SeeD's got her now."

"Good."

There was a pregnant pause until the taller gunblade specialist decided to speak again. "Squall," Seifer began uncertainly, his voice low. "What..." his voice trailed off. Seifer wasn't usually so speechless, but what could he say about what had just happened? What was there to say? Ask about Irvine? Stupid. Everyone knew what happened to Irvine, his squad, and whoever else was still inside when it happened.

"We're going to see the damage," Squall explained succinctly, not allowing his emotions affect his actions as SeeD. He needed to be brave and strong for everyone else, even though his own nerves and heart were telling him to grieve.

"US. GO ALSO," Fujin broke in, her usually harsh, staccato voice wavering the slightest bit.

"You stay here," the commander ordered, his tone soft but strict. "This is SeeD's job."

Seifer glared at him in disbelief. "What? Why?! Why only SeeD?! Irvine is fucking in there! If anything happened..." He couldn't finish. Instead, he pursed his lips together and turned his head quickly. He walked a few steps away with his back to the brunet.

Squall noticed the way he was hiding his face, lowering it with his hand over his eyes. His shoulder were shaking, very barely. _(Is he... crying?)_ he wondered. He didn't mean it in a way to make fun of him, but he was somewhat fascinated. Even the most stubborn can have their weak moments. It made him sad himself. "Sorry, Seifer," he finally replied, his voice somewhat gentle, "but in emergencies like this, the cadets have to stay behind. No exceptions. I'm... I'm sorry." He sighed heavily. He stared at his rival's back, feeling sorry for him.

Rinoa, who couldn't talk because she was crying so much, went over to her trenchcoated friend and slipped her arm around his waist, leading him back inside. He reluctantly let her. Fujin gave Squall a long, sad look and then spun on her heel to follow her squadmates. By the time they disappeared into the airship, the SeeDs he had asked for were coming out. At first, he saw Zell, Quistis, Baron, and Nida. Behind them were Firion, Instructor Cicero, and two more teachers he forgot the names of.

And yet, someone was missing. "Where is she?" Squall asked as soon as the SeeDs were in speaking distance. They stopped and grouped in front of him quietly, awaiting their next command.

Quistis shook her head. Her face was tear-stained and her eyes were red. "Selphie? I don't... I don't think it's a good idea for her to come."

Squall's felt an ache in his chest, but didn't dare let the feeling manifest on his face nor in his eyes. _(Sefie.) _"... Why?" He didn't know why he asked. He already knew why. He knew Selphie like he knew his way around the Training Center.

A sullen-faced Nida eyed him sadly. "Selphie's wouldn't be able to handle this. I've never seen her look so horrified in my entire life. I could only imagine how she would react to seeing the debris up close."

Quistis was about to add in another comment, but the group of SeeDs heard the metallic _clang_ of footsteps coming down the ramp. Everyone turned to look at the newcomer. Squall's eyes widened slightly. "Sefie," he uttered softly. He was surprised she even showed up. The way Nida put it, it seemed she didn't have enough energy to move, but there she was.

Selphie's face was nearly unrecognizable to her boyfriend. She looked empty and her eyes had a distant look in them. She looked so detached and un-Selphie-like that Squall wanted to cry for her. The Trabian stopped near the end of the ramp, a few feet from the other SeeDs, and let her gaze settle on the commander. He couldn't read the expression in her eyes, but he could no longer stand there and only ponder it. Squall pushed past the others and went up to her, his eyes searching hers. "Sefie," he murmured.

She looked up into his eyes, her expression not changing. "Let's go get Irvy," was all she said. Her voice was even and careful. Squall was afraid that any surprise would make her lose it completely.

He raised an eyebrow at her slightly, confused by what she had said. He put his hands on her small shoulders and squeezed them gently. "I-I'm sorry, Sefie. But Irvine--"

She didn't give him a chance to respond as she suddenly shrugged his hands off of her and walked past him, continuing the rest of the way down the ramp. She silently and calmly approached the others, but none of them said anything to her. Squall glanced at Quistis somewhat questioningly. She looked back at him shortly and then averted her eyes, shaking her head.

The commander could only sigh. After another minute or two lapsed, he cleared his throat to catch the SeeDs' attention. It wasn't really needed, since no one was making conversation anyway, but he did it out of habit. Squall gestured to the a couple of the parked SeeD trucks, which had been used earlier for the exam, nearby, which were dirty from the explosion, but otherwise in good condition. "In case some of you weren't told earlier, I'll split us into two groups. We'll drive down to the prison and assess the damage done." He glanced at the tattooed martial artist before him. "Zell, I know you have Leviathan. Junction him and have him put out the fire. It'd be faster than using up stocks of Waterga."

Instead of the polite "yessir" like Squall would have expected any other time, Zell nodded wordlessly, not even looking at his commander in the eye. Squall could tell, though, that his normally happy blue orbs were glassy. He glanced at Quistis. He couldn't imagine how hard it must be for her. In less than a year, they lost Xu and now...

Not wanting to waste anymore time, Squall told them to move out.

* * *

There were no surprises at Ground Zero, except for the fact that they _had_ a Ground Zero to assess. Other than that, there was nothing the SeeDs couldn't predict. After Zell had Leviathan take care of the large fires still burning, the SeeDs spread out to examine what had been done. It had been a big prison, but with the top SeeDs and a recent reinforcement of Galbadian soldiers (which had been requested right before the drive to the prison), everything was covered efficiently and as quick as possible.

The group of SeeDs scattered around, with the exception of Squall and Selphie. The commander wanted his unstable girlfriend to stay with him. In this condition, he nor the others could figure out what she was going to do, but Squall wanted to be there to make sure she didn't hurt herself. As he watched her silently poke around the pile of debris they were standing by, he couldn't help but feel guilty for the way he had treated her earlier that day. The unexplainable visions were the last thing on his mind. Now he had the urge to hold her tightly and endlessly apologize for everything -- his actions earlier, the visions themselves... for Irvine...

Squall swallowed a lump in his throat. He was certain that their good friend was dead. It would definitely be something if Irvine survived the blast. But something like that... the chances were definitely not on their side.

He continued to gaze at the nunchaku specialist as she kicked away a piece of metal idly. There was nothing there that served useful to them, but she seemed to be darting around, as if looking for something. He had a suspicion that it could be Irvine himself, but it wasn't possible. He was more than likely burnt to a crisp, burnt beyond recognition, even.

Selphie continued to dig through the debris, carefully walking where she had secure footing. Squall hated to think this, but he could feel a small twinge of jealousy rise within him. She and Irvine had been so close, even though it was Squall himself she had chosen to love. And yet, he wanted to question it. But he didn't want to allow himself to think that way... it was horrible of him, but he wished he could comfort Selphie. However, she felt so far away. It wasn't _her_. This brown-haired girl standing in front of him wasn't the Sefie he knew and loved. She was almost acting like...

The old him.

He hated the thought of that. But after thinking about it more, he knew she couldn't help the way she was acting. Her best friend had just died. Someone who was also a good friend of his. _(Oh, Hyne... I think it's really starting to hit me...)_ the commander realized. An incredible sense of sadness and loss filled him, but as a SeeD and commander of Balamb Garden, a leader, he needed to put it off until business was taken care of.

He turned to his girlfriend again and saw that she was still sifting through. Her bare legs and arms were getting dirty from the filth. Her hair was getting tangled. There was clearly nothing there that she could look for, but she still kept at it.

"Sefie," he called. He took a step toward her. She didn't respond. _(Maybe she didn't hear me.)_ "Sefie," he called again, his voice louder this time. When she didn't respond for the second time, Squall decided to cautiously walk up behind her and rest his warm, gloved hands on her pale, goosebumped arms. "Hey," he whispered in her ear. "Sefie... Sweetie." He had never used a pet name before, not even with Rinoa, but he wanted to show the Trabian that he was there for her because he loved her. The word was foreign on his lips, but a few seconds later, he grew to like it. At least a little bit.

She finally responded to him. Her head turned halfway toward him. "What?"

Squall wanted to hear feeling in her voice. Happy, sad, it didn't matter, but there was none. There was literally nothing in her voice that conveyed her emotions. "There's nothing here. Let's go. The Galbadian soldiers can handle it."

"..."

He frowned. "Sweetie?" He leaned forward to look at the side of her face. She seemed to have found something. Suddenly, she stepped forward and bent down, again digging through debris. Squall only stared at her quizzically, not knowing what else to do. Finally, she pulled out something dark brown, close to black. Something very familiar. It was only a miracle that could have saved it. Standing up slowly, Selphie finally began to show emotion as her face crumpled, tears making their way down her cheeks.

In her hands was Irvine's hat. A little dirty, but otherwise, in decent shape.

Squall gaped at it, wondering how the hell it survived the blast, and in reasonably good condition. He then turned to Selphie and eyed her as her shoulders trembled. She collapsed to the ground, her knees hitting the sand at the edge of the mountain of rubble. She bowed her head, crying into the hat. She held it tightly against her, afraid to let go.

The commander pursed his lips together. He didn't know if it was seeing his normally sunny girlfriend break down worse than he's ever seen, or if the startling truth finally slammed into him full-on, but he found that he couldn't take being so soldier-like about it anymore.

Irvine was dead.

With that, Squall walked up slowly behind her and dropped to his knees as well, wrapping his arms around her from behind. He couldn't tell if he was comforting Selphie or himself. Perhaps it was both.

He buried his face into the area between her neck and her shoulder, his eyes burning.

* * *

"We had forty-two SeeD candidates. Six of them perished, as well as two instructors. I assume most of the terrorists have been killed beforehand. The leaders Jarek Guthrie and Ciel Maestoso included... although I know it was an objective to bring those two back with SeeD."

Hours later, back at Garden, Squall stood before Headmaster Cid's desk, receiving the final number of casualties. He thanked Hyne that it was only eight people out of the many who could grow to be great SeeDs. Still, eight people was a lot. Eight lives that meant something to others.

Cid sighed and removed his glasses, setting them down in front of him. He rubbed his eyes with his index finger and thumb. "Eight people... even a single digit number is a lot," he continued, as if voicing Squall's thoughts.

"I'm... sorry, Sir," was all Squall could come up with to reply.

Cid looked up at him. "Please don't blame yourself, Squall. You did all you could."

The SeeD only nodded, lowering his head. _(It was still not enough...)_

"Bethe Rhiannon is restrained in one of the 3F quarantine rooms. There is a shift of lower level SeeDs keeping guard outside her door for now," the headmaster went on, "There is no way for her to escape. We need her for information. Once she awakens, we will begin questioning her if she cooperates."

Again, the SeeD nodded.

Cid began shuffling through some papers. "I received some final reports from Galbadia. There was something interesting written here." He put his glasses back on and began reading the top one. "The bomb detonated AFTER the scheduled time."

"What?" Squall furrowed his brows.

"From what you told the Galbadian soldiers, the bomb was supposed to go off three hours after the start of the field exam. This one detonated approximately another hour after it."

"... That sounds about right." Squall rubbed his chin with a gloved hand. He figured that maybe something was wrong with the bomb. Maybe REVOLUTION was trying to be sneaky with them. The brunet explained these thoughts to the headmaster.

The older man nodded. "Well, you could be right, Squall, but we may never know." He took a short glance at the teenager before proceeding, skimming through the paper. "They had found and identified the bodies of Squad G, the other squad still inside the prison. These students were Tessie Skorpius, Red Nacht, and Rydia Fleur. The instructors: Shika Aki and Zedd Doloron."

Squall guiltily recalled how he ordered Aki and Doloron to go into the prison.

"And of course, the bodies of Brie Sirea, Archer Locke... and Irvine Kinneas."

The commander was silent.

"My wife will be here soon," Cid announced softly after a pause. "I know you all grew up together at the orphanage for a while... I'm sure Edea would love to see all of you at a time like this."

"..."

Cid could tell he was saddened. What a horrible reason for Edea to visit from her post with White SeeD. The headmaster himself was dispirited over the loss of the charming cowboy, but things like this happen, even though every life at Garden was valuable to him. "Squall, I'm terribly sorry about all of this. But I'm sure Irvine wouldn't want us to mourn over him forever."

"... I know."

The headmaster didn't quite believe him, but left the commander at that. He went on with other business. "... This has been a plan for a while, but it hasn't gone through until now... Dr. Kadowaki had suggested we hire a therapist for Balamb Garden, and I've hired one of the best. His name is Dr. Alek Waverly and he will be arriving next week from Esthar."

Squall nodded. Frankly, he didn't care, but he could see why it would be useful to have a therapist on board.

"I hope all of you will make good use of this opportunity."

_(Whatever.)_

"Okay, last order of business," Cid droned on. Squall wondered when this was all going to be over. He wanted to be done with Cid so that he could go see his girlfriend. He was anxious to see Selphie. She was the only person he wanted to be with at the moment. Otherwise, he would rather be left alone.

"I looked over the reports and such from the SeeD candidates and their supports. I looked at your approvals for SeeD, as well as your second-in-command Quistis'. I finished setting mine, so here is the final list of accepted SeeDs." Cid took out a light blue, typed-up piece of paper containing names of the new SeeD members. "Please post it on 2F."

Squall took the paper unenthusiastically. "Yes sir."

Cid wasn't meant to be the ultimate father figure in the orphanage gang's lives, but he couldn't help but but feel a paternal sympathy toward Squall. He also felt a fatherly grievance about Irvine's death. He remembered, like it was yesterday, the barbecue his wife had set aside for the entire "family" of theirs. It was a wonderful memory for him, and he admitted to himself that it hurt that there will no longer be another time like that with the family complete.

In the midst of the silence between the two, the commander had turned away, set on completing his task. However, Cid called out to him again. Squall shifted his foot to look at the headmaster. "Sir?"

"If you need to talk about anything... I'm here," Cid told him earnestly. "I know you would never set foot in Waverly's office. You don't seem to type to confide in strangers about problems." He smiled. "That goes the same for the rest of you... you know who I mean."

Squall was a little surprised at the words. It wasn't something he would expect Cid to say to him, but he guessed he should have. In the fragmented memories of his early childhood, he remembered the headmaster being at the orphanage from time to time, coming home with a little toy for the each of them and a hearty laugh during playtime on the beach. Cid was being the father he never had after Laguna, and he was inwardly grateful, although he would never express it. "Thank... thank you, Sir." With a rare hint of a thankful smile, he left the room.

* * *

The thirty-six SeeD candidates waited in the hallway of 2F, most of them silent and anxious. Some of them were sad about the loss of some of their fellow cadets and it was shown on their faces, including the faces of our heroes.

Seifer and Fujin leaned against the wall while Rinoa squatted down near them, none of them talking. Not too far from them, Raijin was pacing around in a slow speed, also not talking. Normally, Rinoa would be the most anxious about the results, since she was athe type of person to be that way, but after the horrid turn of events, she did nothing but stare blankly in front of her, her eyes dry but her heart heavy. Seifer seemed to act the same way, only his expression was a hardened one. Fujin and Raijin had similar expressions.

The familiar _ding_ of the elevator right outside the hallway was loud in the hallway. Seifer looked up and found Squall exiting the elevator, paper in hand. If they had gone through an exam without casualties, which was the case for all the ones the ex-knight could remember, people would start to crowd around the list-bearer. But this year, everyone stayed in their spots, watching with weary eyes as the list was stapled to the bulletin board. Seifer pushed himself off the wall. Fujin followed suit, and Rinoa pulled herself up from the ground. Raijin stopped pacing and looked at his former friends briefly before turning away.

Squall was about to walk away, but he turned to his friends drearily. "Is Selphie in her room?" he asked them as the other candidates surrounded the SeeD list. He looked troubled about something, but none of them asked.

Rinoa nodded gravely. "Yeah, but... I don't think you should see her."

"... Why?"

She shook her head. "Squall, she..." She sighed and looked at him apologetically. "She blames you. And she doesn't want to see you."

Squall averted his gaze, his chest aching. He had a feeling it would come to this, but he never expected it to hurt this much. He couldn't blame Selphie, though. He understood, but there was no way he was leaving her alone at a time like this. Without even a goodbye, he left for the dorms.

After he was gone, Seifer frowned at the brunet's back and was the first out of his friends to go over and check the list.

* * *

**Newly Inaugurated SeeD Members**

_New SeeDs, please meet at the headmaster's office at 1700 hours._

Seifer Almasy (Squad A) - Starting Level 10

Raijin Ameno (Squad D) - Starting Level 09

Alethea D'Artemus (Squad L) - Starting Level 06

Dev Feydor (Squad C) - Starting Level 08

Rinoa Heartilly (Squad A) - Starting Level 11

Fujin Kazeno (Squad A) - Starting Level 11

Leo Steele (Squad C) - Starting Level 07

Gusty Valentine (Squad F) - Starting Level 07

_Congratulations! See you tonight at the Inauguration Ball!_

* * *

"SHORT LIST," Fujin commented from behind Seifer.

He tsked. "It always is. This is a long one compared to the years before."

Rinoa raised an eyebrow, coming up next to Fujin. She checked the list, inwardly rejoiced that she made it as SeeD (the first sorceress SeeD, at that), and then spoke up. "They're still having the ball tonight?"

"I guess," the blonde replied casually, shrugging. "I don't think I wanna go. It's required, though..." A sadder look came across his face as he continued to stare at the list. "Stetson should be on there."

Fujin hadn't heard Seifer call Irvine that in a long time. It wasn't a mocking nickname. It never was, in her opinion, even when things were still awkward between all of them in the beginning. Seifer had always said it out of friendly affection for his childhood friend. He probably realized this and dropped it because it didn't make him as "macho" as he wanted to be.

She glanced at Seifer and then turned to the list, her lone eye softening. "Yeah."

"Oh Hyne, guys, don't get me crying again," Rinoa protested, blinking her eyes rapidly. She sniffled. She reached up to wipe her eyes, turning away from her friends.

Seifer took a pen out from his pocket and went over to the list. Popping off the cap with his teeth, he began to write. Fujin, and even Raijin, who for some reason still stuck around, looked on curiously.

_Irvine Kinneas (Squad B) - R.I.P. - SeeD in our hearts_

It wasn't much; it was mushy, even. If Irvine had seen these, he would've poked fun at him for being so warm and fuzzy. The list will probably be taken down within the next week or so, but it was something to remember him by for the time being. It was enough to make Rinoa burst into tears again. Things won't be the same without the Galbadian; for sure. Seifer stuck the cap back onto his pen and put it back into his coat pocket. He stared at his writing grimly. "What time is it?" he asked.

Fujin looked down at her watch. "SEVEN 'TIL." She glanced back up, meaning to look at Seifer and Rinoa, but she caught Raijin staring at them from his part of the wall. She didn't give him a nasty look nor a friendly one; she merely looked at him in curiosity. She realized that it was just the four of them now. Everyone had left already. Seifer and Rinoa noticed the expression on her face and both turned to look at whatever she was looking at.

The dark-skinned SeeD, feeling self-conscious, finally turned away after sharing a staring contest with them and ventured further down the hallway. He took the stairwell to the headmaster's office.

* * *

After Squall left Seifer and the others, he rode the elevator down to 1F and rushed to the dorm area. He needed to straighten things out with Selphie. So he walked quickly through the halls with only that in mind.

As he reached her door, he hesitated. Rinoa wouldn't lie about Selphie not wanting to see him, but he couldn't let the rift between himself and his girlfriend grow. He raised his hand, pausing briefly before he knocked. "Sefie?" he called, his voice soft. He didn't hear a response. He stepped a little closer to the door, hoping that the sliding door would open on its own, but it didn't. It has been locked.

"Sefie," he called out again, raising his voice slightly. "Sweetie, open the door." He put his ear to the door, trying to hear what she was doing. He didn't even hear her shuffling about. Almost fearing the worst, his knocks and voice became a little more urgent. "I need to talk to you."

Squall leaned his ear in again to hear. After a moment, he finally heard barefooted footsteps slowly make their way to the door. He heard the soft beep of the door unlocking from the other side. His heart beating wildly and his mind relieved of fearful thoughts, he straightened himself as the door hissed open. Selphie was standing on the other side, her face tear-stained and paler than usual. She looked up at him, the slightest expression of anger and betrayal on her face. He looked away then, hurt by it. _(Of course... I should have expected it.)_

He invited himself in. She didn't argue. He turned to look at her, stepping in so he could hold her. He was about to, but she spoke up, her voice accusing. "What do you want, Squall? You've done enough."

_(You've done enough,)_ he repeated in his head, not believing that the words really came out of her mouth. "What do you mean?" he asked her.

Selphie shook her head and moved to create distance between them. Squall wouldn't allow it, though. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward him. A little harshly, but he wasn't going to let her go like that. He proceeded to wrap his arms around her shoulders. He looked down at her and she looked up at him. Their faces were only a few inches apart. Selphie tried to push against him, but he tightened his grip around her, their bodies pressing against each other.

She wasn't going anywhere.

"Selphie," he uttered, his voice quiet and stern but his eyes gentle and pleading.

"... Why his group?" she finally mumbled after a long pause. "Why did you send _them_ to the control room? Why?!" Her voice rose in volume as she began to sob again. "How could you send him to his death like that?!"

Guilt riding in him, he loosened his grip on her, enough to let his gaze shift down to his feet. A part of him was mad at her accusations, but in the end, he had no one to blame but himself. He chose the exam site, he organized the squads, he picked Squad B to deactivate the bomb, and he had told his girlfriend so confidently that her best friend in the world was going to make it out of there alive. "..."

"You told me--" Selphie stopped, pressing her lips together to stop her chin from quivering, "You told me he'd be fine!"

"I know," was all Squall could come up with to say. His voice was so small to his ears that he wondered if he really said it at all. He didn't know how to make her feel better. Maybe there wasn't a way.

"You should've--you should've--" she couldn't even finish. Now tears were freely streaming down her cheeks. She was crying way too hard to speak coherently. She just wanted to collapse and shrink into the ground, but she didn't. Instead, she tried to glare daggers at her boyfriend through glassy eyes.

He finally looked at her again, his heart breaking at the sight of her in this condition. He re-tightened his grip on her and buried his face into her hair. "Sefie, I..." _(I'm so sorry.)_

He noticed that she didn't hug back. She stood rigid as a statue, her hands down at her sides and her tear-stained face staring somewhere beyond his shoulder. Squall pulled away and gave her a confused look. "Sefie?"

"Don't call me that anymore."

He continued to stare at her in confusion until she couldn't stand it anymore. She looked away, smiling rather grimly. A smile that was drastically different from her earnest, optimistic ones. "Don't call me Sefie anymore. Only Irvy..."

He realized what she was trying to say and broke in with, "Sefie--"

"Only Irvy can can call me that," she cut in before he could finish. She looked up at him sharply. "Got it?"

The nickname reminded her of _him_. Squall could tell. He inwardly grimaced, as if she hit him, but in a way she did. Just not on a physical level. He loved to call her Sefie. It was cute and it was something that showed his affection toward her, and "showing affection" was not an easy thing for him to do. When it came to Rinoa, he loved her, but he never nicknamed her anything beyond "Rin." He was still too reserved at the time. With Selphie, though, he felt more free to be silly and emotional. Rinoa was too gentle and cautious. Selphie wasn't. The gentleness and cautiousness made Squall himself feel well, gentle and cautious as well.

Either way, he didn't like the thought of not calling her Sefie. Even though it was penned first by Irvine when they were children, Squall's "Sefie" had a different meaning from his. Same with Seifer's, which held the same meaning as Irvine's, obviously.

It hurt him. And yet, he forced himself to understand. It was only right. Squall didn't want to be selfish. Irvine had been one of his good (and one out of his few) friends and it would be bastardly of him to argue with Selphie about what Squall himself wanted. Selphie was going to be in mourning for a while. He needed to back off. Hell, _he_ should be in mourning, but being the insensitive, greedy jerk that he was, he was still here with Selphie, partially angry by his girlfriend's request. He wasn't happy with himself about that. Not at all.

_(Maybe I'm being too hard on myself.)_

When he finally pulled himself out of his thoughts, he found that the Trabian was still staring up at him, waiting for a reply from him. Any reply, he supposed, so that she could be reassured of his compliance.

"... I'm sorry," Squall said slowly. He rubbed her arms gently with his gloved hands. She looked cold. "Is there anything else you want, Sweetie?"

Selphie looked to the side, pretending that her wall was the most fascinating thing in the world. There was a long moment of silence before she spoke up again. "I don't want to be around you right now." Her voice was fragile but Squall knew that she knew what she was saying.

He froze, his hands still on her arms. He didn't say anything. Carefully, he let his hands drop to his sides. He understood. "Of course." He could no longer look at her. The aching in his chest would just not stop. In this time of need, he wanted to be there for her and he needed her to be there for him as well, but he knew he wouldn't get any of that. Not yet, at least.

"I'm sure it would be better, anyway."

Squall hadn't expected her to speak again, but she did. He didn't shift his gaze to her, but from what he could hear, her voice was stronger and steadier. Her crying was subsiding. Nevertheless... _(Why would she say something like that?)_

To answer his unspoken questions, she continued, her voice no more than a mumble. "You wanted to kill me, after all."

His jaw tightened. She _had_ to bring it up. And not only that, she was assuming that those visions were his own doing, and he knew that the _real,_ happy-go-lucky Selphie would never think like that and trusted him, even though his accidental outbursts and such from them scared her. Oh, well. He might as well open up about it now. "What are you saying?" he questioned, his voice hard.

"What do you _think_?"

He sighed heavily, frustrated. "Sef--... Selphie. It's not like that..."

"Well, what was I supposed to think after you told me that you saw yourself KILL ME?" Her voice was rising. She wasn't crying this time around, though. She was just plain mad at him.

"I don't know," Squall answered honestly, glaring at her slightly. "And what does this have to do with anything?" She didn't answer. At this, he scowled and added, "Hyne... I love you. I love you a lot. Do you think I _want_ to think shit like that?" With his hands, he delicately cupped her face, easily forcing her to look up at him. "At a time like this..." he began, his voice far more gentle than before, "I just want to be here for you. And... I want you to be here for me. I... I cared about Irvine a lot, too. He was a great friend to us."

Selphie swallowed a lump in her throat, her eyes clouding over again. Her chin trembled. She tried to look away from him, but he wouldn't allow it. He made sure that her eyes were still facing his. "What... how... but the visions..." she managed to sputter, tears running down her face again.

Squall wiped her tears away with his thumbs. "That's..." He thought about it for a second. "That's where you're going to have to help me, Selphie." He pulled her forward so that she fell limply into his embrace. "They're not here now," he continued, murmuring into her ear, "but when they come back, you need to be patient with me... or I don't know, just do something." _(Let us figure it out... together.)_

"I don't know if I can, Squall..."

"Sweetie, please," he pleaded, "All I want is to be happy with you. I want us to have peace."

"..."

He felt like they had switched places. Squall was now the one begging to understand, to make things right again, while Selphie was now the indifferent one, answering with little words and pushing him away. He couldn't have this. He didn't want this. He wanted to make everything the way it should be... with the endearing, optimistic Selphie he and everyone else knew. "I can't leave you alone," he told her quietly. "You know that."

Suddenly, she pushed at him. This only made Squall's grip on her stronger. When she couldn't succeed, she let out an irritated breath. "I wish you would..." she finally grumbled.

Ouch.

Squall knew she didn't mean it. The tragedy left her feeling awful, and he could never blame her for it, although it frustrated him very much. Instead of replying to those discouraging words, he changed the subject.

"Sweetie, I know you're the head chair of the Inauguration Ball committee... but you don't have to go if you don't want to... even though it's required for everyone else."

"I loved him."

The tone was dead calm and matter-of-fact. The words came out of nowhere and slapped him in the face. The sentence took him completely by surprise, and he could only stare at her. Did she really say that? What did she mean? Squall let go of her completely. She _loved_ him? Romantically? Platonically? At this point, the commander had no idea what could come out of Selphie's mouth. She had become dreadfully unpredictable about everything. Anything could mean anything. And of course, concerning what she had just said, he had to assume.

"What about me?" he asked her, his voice barely audible. There was a heaviness in his chest that was familiar but rare. _(Sefie, what about me? I love you. I love you more than I could ever admit...)_ He received no answer from her. Instead, she ducked her head, hiding her face.

_(Was Irvine always on your mind?)_

"What about me?" he repeated, a little louder this time. Again, she didn't speak up. That signaled for him to leave. He wasn't wanted there. Turning around, he headed to the door. _(Fuck this,)_ he thought. _(I won't waste my time on this. She's so difficult. So fucking stupid and confusing...) _Squall half-expected Selphie to protest and latch on to him. He half-expected her to apologize and return to being the darling little woman she was, mourning over Irvine still but relying on her boyfriend for support.

None of that happened.

Squall exited her room and stopped right outside of it, contemplating going back in. He tried to understand her, didn't he? He tried. Obviously, it wasn't enough, and all that happened in the process was him getting hurt. He took a step or two down the hallway, but couldn't find the energy to keep going. So he slumped against the wall near her door, his knees drawn up and his head bowed. Too much was weighing on his mind. He didn't even want to begin to address his problems.

Through the wall, he could hear Selphie begin to sob again. She wasn't too loud, but still loud enough for him to hear her clearly. His heart ached again, but he didn't allow himself to see her. She didn't want him there. The commander was starting to suffocate from the feelings she was currently giving him, and he couldn't handle any more of it. The only thing he could do at the moment, conflicted as he was, was sit outside and listen to her cry.

* * *

Seifer stood near the door of his new room, staring at its contents. He had just moved in from his Garden double to the single, and it felt no different, mainly because he hadn't had a roommate after Ralse Triton. His eyes fell on the stack of boxes he had yet to unpack. Normally, he would get started on that right away, but he didn't have the energy to do so. He wished he could be elated about his promotion to SeeD, but how could he? A friend of his -- a _true_ friend who he cared about a lot -- was dead.

There was a knock behind him. "Come in," he called gruffly. His voice was rough. Since going to the headmaster's office about two hours ago, he hadn't spoken at all. He just picked up his things from his old room to his new one.

He heard careful steps behind him. He turned around and found Quistis, dressed in her SeeD uniform and unsmiling, standing there. She simply looked at him and waited for him to say something.

"Quisty," he greeted quietly.

"It's dark in here," she observed, seeing that none of his lights were on and that his windows were closed. However, the blinds were enough to provide some of the sunset's light.

Seifer shrugged. "Yeah, well, I'm not in the mood for anything bright."

"... None of us are."

At her words, Seifer silently trudged to his couch and plopped down onto it, leaning forward with his elbows on his thighs. He gazed at the coffee table in front of him. _(None of us, huh? You hear that, Irvine? You know what you did to us?)_

_(It'll... be like this for a while, you know...)_

Quistis, her eyes knitted together in sadness, walked over to her former student and carefully took a seat next to him. She placed a hand gently on his thigh in an effort to comfort him, although she knew she needed comfort herself. "It's... hard," she said, her voice loud in the silent room.

He scoffed and shook his head, his eyes still boring into the coffee table. "Yeah? No shit," he retorted rather harshly. Since he wasn't looking at her, he could imagine the blonde instructor wincing at his tone as he felt her retract her hand, which felt nice and warm against his leg. Immediately, he grabbed her hand with his own in apology, staring down at their fingers as they started to naturally intertwine.

Neither of them said anything for a while.

Finally, Seifer spoke up. What he was about to address had been on his mind often. "It must be hell for you, Quistis." His voice was soft. It was something she wasn't used to, not even when Ralse Triton hurt his pride via vandalism all those months ago. "First Xu, and now..."

"O-Oh, yeah..." Quistis replied uneasily. She surely expected Seifer to mention something like that, but it still brought her to tears. She hastily wiped them away with her free hand but couldn't stop herself from letting a small whimper escape her. Upon hearing that, Seifer was quick to embrace her, letting go of her hand to wrap both arms around her as she cried freely. Why he did such a thing, he didn't know, but he found that the prideful, egotistical bastard he once was was rapidly disappearing from his system. The Seifer he was now was a caring, comforting friend beneath his smirking, teasing exterior. He had also become sensitive.

A rapid montage of being with Irvine and the rest of his friends from childhood to now took over his mind. Irvine playing War as a kid, laughing with little Sefie and himself... fighting him while brainwashed with Ultimecia's powers... seeing him for the first time in months when he re-registered as a student at Garden... having a heart-to-heart about Selphie... laughing with him in the lobby right before they left Garden for the exam...

He hated how his death was so abrupt. There had been no indication for him -- for any of them, for that matter -- that the last smile he saw on the cowboy would be his final one. What was the last thing he did with Irvine? Laugh and joke around. That was it. No epiphany, no odd, ominous feelings. _Nothing._

It was shocking.

When Seifer finally roused himself from his thoughts, he found that a teary-eyed Quistis was gazing at him, trying to suppress her hiccups. He couldn't help but stare back at her, clueless.

She reached up and let her thumb brush against his cheek. "Seifer..." she whispered through her hiccups, smiling sadly at his confused look. "You're crying."

He suddenly raised his hand to one of his cheeks, the one Quistis hadn't touched. Sure enough, it was wet. He realized that she had touched his face to wipe away a fallen tear. "I..." he chuckled bitterly. "I guess I'm weaker than I thought." Seifer wasn't a crier. When he watched the D-District Prison explode and remembered that Irvine was still inside, he let himself cry once, but that was it. He didn't want to shed anymore tears, namely in front of anyone, especially his "rival" Squall. He was too strong and stubborn for that. But now...

He heard a sniffle and felt a weight shift. He turned his eyes to her again, seeing that she had gotten up from the couch. She was wiping away any last remnants of her crying. She then held out a hand to him. "Go get dressed in your SeeD uniform, Seifer," she told him. "_He_ would want us to enjoy ourselves at the ball."

Seifer offered an agreeing smile. "Yeah... guess so."

* * *

Rinoa left her new dorm room quietly, locking the door behind her. She was clad in her new SeeD uniform, which she admitted to herself looked good on her, but she wasn't in the mood for a self-esteem boost.

She heard cursing behind her as she trudged down the hallway. Out of curiosity, she stopped and turned around. She found none other than a SeeDy-looking Zell swearing up a storm under his breath. With his hands in his pockets and his scowling face looking at the ground, he looked like he had just burst out of his own room, ready to "party-hearty" at the ball. Obviously.

Rinoa randomly wondered if she was good at being sarcastic.

She watched him, waiting for the blond to notice her presence, which he did when his eyes fell on her SeeD-issued uniform boots. "Rinny," he greeted unenthusiastically. He sounded like he had been crying. He lifted his head and took a moment to look at her face. He looked like he had been crying, too. "What's wrong? You look constipated."

Rinoa really didn't know how to respond to that. A small smile tugged at her lips, though. _(At least his... oddities are still intact...)_

He began to walk past her. Rinoa raised an eyebrow at him. Normally, Zell would've stuck around with her instead of just leaving like that. But then again, today wasn't a normal day. "Zell," she called out softly.

"I don't feel like talking to anyone right now," he responded. "I'm just going to the damn fucking ball because I have to--"

"You asked me what was wrong, though," she cut in, putting her hands on her hips.

He stopped mid-step and spun on his heel to face her. He looked a little annoyed. "So _now_ you decide to tell me, out of _all the fucking times_ I've asked you before what was wrong? When it was so fucking obvious that you weren't?"

"... What?"

"Rinoa, why the _hell_ didn't you say anything earlier?" he asked, running frustrated hands through his hair. "I mean, you could've told me when we were out during your frickin' pre-req!"

Rinoa winced at the harshness of Zell's tone. "... Irvine told you, didn't he? About Hecate?"

"Yeah," Zell answered rather roughly. "I mean, Hyne, Rin! Why would you hide something like that?" He glared at her accusingly.

Rinoa crossed her arms and bowed her head self-consciously. "Can we not talk about this today?"

The martial artist shook his head. "Sure, Rinoa. Now let's talk about how Irvine _died_ today during the exam--"

"Zell, please!" the sorceress interrupted. "I'm having a rough time right now... we all are." She had to bite her lip to keep from tearing up. "Can't we save the serious talk for another day?"

Zell sighed. "When is 'another day'? Until the signs of your DF start to show?"

Rinoa couldn't help but stare at him with fiery, glassy eyes. "What the hell is wrong with you? This isn't the Zell I know--"

"Maybe you don't know me," was his simple reply. He found that Rinoa's eyes were still on him. "Look, you're right. We're all having a rough time, especially because of today. But my life has been pretty unsatis-fucking-factory since the terrorist shit's been popping up. I've been feeling like I failed at everything I did. Not only that, the deaths just took the cake. And now you..."

Rinoa's face finally softened. Although he yelled at her about Hecate, she wasn't the one he blamed. It was himself. "Zell..."

"Chicken-Wuss here is sick of being the fun-loving, impulsive whatever he is to everyone else," he finished rather calmly. He turned his head to stare at the wall. "Blame me for hating everything right now."

The raven-haired girl didn't say anything. What could she say to that? Should she apologize? It seemed like she should. She felt horrible. She opened her mouth to do so, but it was then Zell decided to take his leave. After debating with herself, she decided not to follow.

As he walked away, he called back to her with, "You can grieve all you want, but you better fucking tell Squall and Quistis what's going on with you ASAP."

"Okay," Rinoa muttered uncertainly, but she doubted that her response was even loud enough for him to hear. Not that it mattered. She knew that Zell would be too preoccupied to try.

Still, she had something important to tell the others, and for Zell's sake, and hell, even for Irvine's, she needed to take responsibility and confess that she had been holding a DF all this time.

* * *

The Inauguration Ball went on as normal. Selphie's touches were hard to see for this year's event. But since it was such a tradition, Squall guessed that in the end, Garden preferred to keep it as it has always been.

But of course, he noticed some distinct differences this time around. Even though "Waltz for the Moon" played like it did last year, and although the decorations were nothing new, there were noticeably more people, less dancers, and less smiles.

The commander stood against the wall, sipping on some sparkling cider. He stood much like he did last year, watching with disinterest at the people before him. He only spotted Quistis, Seifer, and Zell so far out of his friends. However, Quistis and Seifer were the only ones who seemed social enough; Zell ignored everyone and went out to stare at the night sky on the balcony.

"HEY."

_(Fujin.)_ "Hi," Squall responded quietly, turning from his wine glass to the new SeeD before him. He was a little weirded out at seeing her in the SeeD uniform skirt. He had half-expected her to ask for a male uniform rather than a female one like she did for the school outfit, but Garden was probably stricter on uniforms when it came to SeeD itself.

Fujin and Squall were never really good friends. Thus, the socializing between the two was a little awkward.

"SELPHIE. HOW IS SHE?"

_(I would like to know the answer to that, too,)_ Squall thought, sighing mid-sip. He lowered his glass to respond truthfully. "I don't know."

The short-haired female actually didn't seem surprised at his answer. She nodded a bit and followed up with, "AND YOU."

It took him a few seconds to realize that she was asking a question. He shrugged and finished the last of his cider. "... I don't know." He preferred to keep his feelings far away from his physical being. His situation with Selphie was too stressful to think about, and the depression caused by it was really weighing him down. It was better if he distanced himself from the emotions.

"You two look like you're having fun," came Seifer's voice from behind Fujin. Before Squall knew it, both he _and_ Quistis were standing in front of the brunet with the shuriken user.

The commander inwardly groaned. He wish he knew why he attracted people to him without even trying. He didn't like it. Especially when he wasn't in a good mood. "What, Seifer?" he asked, annoyed.

The blond male raised an eyebrow. "Whaddya mean, 'what'? All I said was--"

"I know," Squall interrupted. He turned his head to the side and didn't say anymore.

"Fucking rude," Seifer snapped.

"It'll subside," Quistis told him. "Just don't start anyth--"

"Who said I was going to?!" Seifer interrupted, scowling. "I was just commenting on how rude Mr. Commando is right now." He turned back to Squall. "I'm not in the fucking mood for it."

"SEIFER. CALM DOWN," Fujin spoke up.

"What? I'm not doing anything! I'm just fucking _talking_."

The commander continued to remain silent.

In the midst of the small altercation, a familiar black-haired girl approached them anxiously. Quistis spotted her immediately and wondered why she looked so... nervous. "Rinoa," she greeted warmly.

The rest of the group turned to look at her. Seifer sighed. "Great. The only one missing is Chicken-wuss."

Rinoa averted her eyes. "I doubt he'd want to hang out with us, anyway."

There was an awkward silence after that. The same thing was on all their minds: the events of the field exam.

After some time, Rinoa cleared her throat nervously. "Er... I have something to say. About... _not_ about you-know-what."

Seifer furrowed a brow. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Rinoa took a deep breath before she went on. "My... Hecate, my GF, isn't... a GF."

Everyone only stared at her. Rinoa couldn't tell what any of their looks meant, but obviously, none were positive.

"Rinoa..." Squall finally spoke up, giving his ex-girlfriend a concerned, anxious look. "Are you saying that... is it what Odine was talking about?"

She gave him a small nod, a scared tear escaping her eye. "Yeah... a DF."

* * *

Selphie watched with a frown as some students walked by, gossiping about a certain blue-clad, black-haired SeeD. It was all she had been hearing about that day, for some reason.

Rinoa's news spread throughout Garden faster than an Esthar elevator trip. It was always stuff like, _Oh, did you hear about the sorceress with the DF? Have you heard about what DFs are? Odine talked about it on the news... _Blah, blah, blah. There was much speculation about her either turning evil or having something extraordinary happen to her because she also had sorceress powers. People had begun to fear her.

Now that Rinoa's DF has been exposed, she has been in and out of Garden for testing. Her missions as the first sorceress SeeD were kept to a minimum because of them, even. It must have been annoying for the dark-haired girl to face rumors and such every day. But then again, it was probably not unlike what happened with the Edea/Adel/Ultimecia business.

The green-eyed girl hopped off of the bench, pensive. She was numb, refusing to grieve and refusing to act like _it_ didn't happen. She was half-denying and half-accepting, if that made any sense.

She refused to envision his face in her mind. She blocked out his name from her head and from anyone else's lips.

If she dared to think about it too much, she would break down.

Selphie spent the last week (or was it two?) feeling like a zombie. She was in a state of surreality and depersonalization -- she didn't feel like she was really there. She didn't know if that was because she wasn't getting enough sleep or if she was just... that depressed. It was odd. She and depression seemed like polar opposites a year ago, but with all that had been happening lately, they might as well be friends.

Weird. She could smile a fake smile when Trabia was destroyed, but she couldn't even bring herself to do that when...

Selphie sighed. She was a messed up individual.

"There you are..."

Selphie turned to her right and found Rinoa standing there, her hands clasped behind her back and a gentle smile on her face. "How are you doing, Selphie?"

_(What do you think?)_

The brunette shrugged, looking down. She thought it was pretty obvious how she was doing.

"Oh, Selphie..." It was a sad-sounding utterance from the sorceress. The Trabian had an idea that her optimistic, energetic self was missed greatly and that this side of her was too much for anyone to bear, but how could she be? He... she couldn't even finish that sentence. She knew Rinoa understood. She was an understanding person.

Selphie finally looked up at her friend, giving her a dismissive shaking of her head. "It's okay, Rin..."

"Have you talked to Squa--"

"No."

Rinoa blinked and then shut up. "I see..."

There was another silence and then Selphie spoke up again. "How... are you?"

The taller girl sighed. "Just busy... I don't even have time to do SeeD exams. Squall's been taking me here and there for _anything_ relating to DFs. I'm not even _scared_ about this anymore. It's just annoying--"

"Squall's been taking you?" Selphie asked. Her voice had a jealous undertone, but Rinoa didn't look like she noticed.

"Well... yeah." She seemed somewhat confused. "Why?"

Selphie didn't want to admit to her or herself that she didn't like that they were spending time together without her being aware of it. But she _did_ tell off her boyfriend a week or two ago and didn't want to talk to him for a while. It shouldn't bother her that Squall was doing his own thing.

"... Nothing," the nunchaku specialist responded softly. "I was just... confirming." Her heart was sinking, but she had to convince herself that nothing was going on between Squall and Rinoa.

"Oh, hey," Rinoa piped up, as if realizing something. "Seifer and I were planning on bumming around watching movies or whatever in my room... wanna join us?"

Selphie just looked at her, unenthusiastic. "What for?"

"To unwind," she replied with ease. "These past couple of weeks have been really tough on us." She offered a small smile. "Me and Seifer want to do something to lighten us up." Rinoa put her hand on Selphie's arm. "What do you say?"

A normal Selphie would have jumped at the opportunity. But she wasn't exactly feeling normal, was she? "I don't know..." her voice faltered.

Rinoa rolled her eyes. "You _would_ say that." Her grip on the Trabian's arm now more firm, she started to tug, indicating that she was was going to lead her back to her room anyway.

Selphie began to protest. "Rinoa--"

"Forget it, Selph," the sorceress interrupted, not looking at her. "You're going to relax with me and Sei Sei tonight. We all need this. Too much is going on..." She let herself trail off rather cryptically.

Selphie noticed this, but she didn't say anything about it. Rinoa must be struggling with the DF thing on top of her continued grievance over... what happened at the field exam.

The mere thought of the field exam created an awful feeling in Selphie's heart.

She wanted to object to joining Rinoa and Seifer again, but unluckily for her, the two girls already found themselves in front of Rinoa's door. The sorceress waltzed through the sliding door, craning her neck to give Selphie a quick, reassuring grin as she pulled her along.

Upon entering the room, Selphie noticed a hyper Angelo start to jump around her owner, panting excitedly. The sorceress let the Trabian out of her grasp as she tended to her dog.

Selphie also found Seifer lounging on Rinoa's brand-new off-white couch. He was already entranced by whatever was on the (also brand-new) TV. He finally looked up and blinked in surprise. She guessed that he was surprised that she actually showed up.

He half-smiled in greeting. "Selphie." He must've heard from Squall about her new hatred for her old nickname. "Glad you could join us." He sat up, making room for the green-eyed girl. He then patted a spot next to him. "You're gonna have fun tonight." He smirked.

She hesitantly took a seat next to him, but remained silent. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Seifer's smirk begin to fade as he watched her. Without turning her head, she asked, "What is it?"

"..." Seifer scratched his head. "I... I'm just... dunno, worried--" The word sounded awkward when he said it, "--about you... I guess. I mean, we all are. You're obviously taking it worse than all of us." He nudged her lightly with his elbow. "Puberty Boy's especially concerned. What's going on with you two, anyway?"

Selphie shrugged.

Seifer raised an eyebrow. He opened his mouth to speak again, but before he could ask any more questions, Rinoa appeared in front of the two of them. She crossed her arms. "Seif... how the hell did you get in here?"

He beamed up at the SeeD in front of him. "Learn to lock your door, woman."

"I thought I--"

"I'm in here now, aren't I?"

Rinoa scowled and put her hands on her hips.

"Oh, by the way, I brought a surprise." With that, Seifer pulled himself off the couch and headed into the mini-kitchen. With both girls watching him in curiosity, he opened the refrigerator door and took out a six-pack of bottles of... beer. "Snuck in this shit earlier." He smiled at the two of them.

Rinoa crinkled her nose. "Beer? I don't like beer..."

"Yeah, I figured. This'll be the one of the ones you'll actually like." He brought the beers into the 'living room' area and set them on the cheap-looking coffee table in front of the couch. "I got some more crap, too... hard liquor, but I thought we'd start on the beer first."

Rinoa plucked a bottle out of the cardboard pack and examined the label. "_Trabian Snowstorm_? ... Never heard of it." She turned to Selphie. "Do you drink?"

Selphie shrugged for the thousandth time that day. "Never drank before."

Rinoa chuckled. "Yeah, I'm still kind of new at this."

Seifer grinned at Selphie and grabbed a bottle for her. "Tonight's a great time to start, then." He twisted the bottle cap off and held out a _Trabian_ for the, well, Trabian. The brunette took the beer from him slowly and stared at the liquid in the bottle. Funny, she always saw herself as the type to abstain from this type of stuff. She knew how to have plenty of fun sober.

But this was, according to Rinoa, a night for the three of them to "unwind." A lot has happened. Too much stress, too many bad feelings...

So, what the hey. Selphie lifted the bottle to her mouth and took a small swig. The taste was bitter, but she welcomed it. Something to hopefully wake her from her numbness.

Seifer took a bottle of beer for himself and turned to Rinoa. "So, what we watchin'?" After opening his bottle and tossing the cap to the ground, he walked over to the TV, where some movies were sitting on top of it. He one-handedly sifted through them uninterestedly.

The gunblade specialist spotted a video camera sitting on the ground nearby, connected to a charger. "Selph, isn't this yours?" he asked, pointing to it.

Selphie nodded. "Yeah..." By now, she had finished her first beer. Being a small, thin girl, she was already feeling the effects of the alcohol, but she paid it no heed as she reached for another _(So this is what alcohol does...)_ she thought idly.

Rinoa laughed a little at her as she plopped down next to her. "I can see that you're liking this..." she joked. "Future alcoholic in the making?"

"Hey, Rin," Seifer called. He set his beer down on the coffee table and began to fiddle with the camcorder. "What's on here?"

The raven-haired girl turned to him. "Uh... don't remember. The Garden Festival stuff, probably?"

He gave her a sly smile. "Wanna watch? It'll be great to laugh at ourselves." His eyes shifted to Selphie. "How 'bout it, Selph?"

The yellow-clad girl twisted the cap off of the _Trabian_ and paused. Garden Festival? Wasn't that when he and Rinoa caught a tender moment of herself and Squall on camera...? She wasn't in the mood for anything like that. "Sorry, don't think so," she finally replied, her voice small.

Seifer looked at her quizzically. "Why? What's wrong?"

Rinoa seemed to remember. "Oh... yeah, Seif, we probably shouldn't." She frowned. "I don't think Selphie wants to see footage of her and Squall all kissy-faced and Irv--" she realized what she was about to say and stopped talking.

The blond nodded in understanding and backtracked. "Right... well, let's just watch one of your shitty movies, then, Rin."

"They are _not_," Rinoa retorted.

Seifer drank the last of his beer, set the empty bottle on the table, and reach for his second. "Please, Rinny. You're such a girl. You have typical girl movies."

"You didn't even look through them all!"

He smirked. "No, I didn't."

She gave him a disgusted look. "Well, whatever. You choose one of my _less_ shitty movies while I grab whatever else you brought." She got up and headed to the fridge.

Selphie had been silent the entire time, but it wasn't like she was willing to participate in conversation. Her tipsiness was comforting; it made the exchange between her two friends more fascinating and distracting.

She was ready to drink some more.

* * *

Unlike Seifer, Rinoa, and Selphie, some SeeDs were either busy with missions that early evening (in the case of Fujin, Raijin, and some other rookies). Or some were like Squall, Quistis, and Nida and keeping an eye on a particular restrained red-haired anarchist through a window to an isolated room. Unbeknownst to her, the tinted window provided a view for SeeDs to observe her, but not the other way around.

"She's still refusing to talk," Quistis noted dully as the commander approached her from behind. The instructor had been observing Bethe Rhiannon for hours, only to have nothing noteworthy to report.

Nida had been the one trying to question her, but he had come up with nothing. His inquiries were met with either smirks or scowls. Currently, he was standing near Quistis, waiting to speak if and when it was necessary.

Squall didn't feel like being patient and wait around for her to say something, but whatever information she had was valuable, and he had to take the risk. It hasn't been long... she'll talk in time.

"Has she talked at all? I mean, in general?" the brunet asked.

Nida shrugged. "Not very much. Most of the time, she just swears at me or whoever happens to be around." He sighed. "Very pleasant to hear," he added dryly.

"There has to be a way to get her to answer our questions," Quistis muttered, as she turned to face Squall. "I know she'll talk to us sooner or later. She just seems... stubborn right now."

"I think the same," Squall agreed monotonously. "I think that's all we can get tonight, though." He looked at each of his subordinates. "I'll report to the Headmaster." _(Like report's even an appropriate word for the nothingness I get to tell him about)_. With his head, he gestured toward the door that led out the observation room. "You guys are dismissed."

Nida saluted quickly and promptly left. Quistis stuck around a little longer. She gave Squall a concerned look. "You look tired," she said.

He scowled at her. "That's probably because I am."

"How are you and Selphie--"

"Why does everyone keep asking me about her?" he cut in, annoyed.

"Sorry..."

She watched as he slumped down into a chair at the table in the room. He leaned over, rubbing his face with his hands. After a long period of silence, he spoke up, his face still buried in his hands. "She's still not talking to me."

The blonde didn't know what to say. The monotone in her former student's voice was gone, replaced by one of frustration with a hint of hopeless sadness.

"I'm afraid of even approaching her," he went on. "I'm fucking... commander of Balamb Garden and I'm afraid of my girlfriend."

Quistis didn't know what prompted the Lion to suddenly spill his emotions, but it was certainly better than holding it all in or isolating himself like he did uncalculable times before.

"Quis... could you leave me alone?" Squall requested quietly.

_(Oh, never mind)._ The blue-eyed instructor frowned in slight disapproval, but complied, anyway. "... Okay." She saluted him and reluctantly left the room.

* * *

Many drinks later, Rinoa, Seifer, and even Selphie were rolling on the floor in laughter. Empty bottles and cups were all over the coffee table. Angelo was sleeping in her bed in Rinoa's bedroom, the sounds of three drunken SeeDs muffled by the closed door.

"Ohhhh Hyne," Rinoa giggled, pointing at Seifer. "I can't believe ya flirted with one'a the lunch ladies t'get free hot dogs. Zell must'a been pissed!"

"I can hear your Galbaaaay-di-uhhn accent, Rinny," Seifer remarked.

"You guys are both slurring!" Selphie exclaimed from the couch. She was lying down, facing the ceiling.

"So are you!" Rinoa exclaimed. She stood up slowly and swayed over to Selphie, her arms outstretched. "Oh, Selphie! I'm so glad yer back!" She actually climbed on top of the brunette for a hug, laying down on her and wrapping her arms around her.

Selphie tried to push her off, laughing and squealing. "Ew, Rinny! You're heavy!"

The raven-haired girl pretended to look hurt by pouting. "No, I'm not!"

Seifer laughed at the two of them, clearly amused. "Holy shit! Lesbian action!" He crawled over to them. "Fuck, lemme in on this shit!"

Rinoa glanced at Seifer and gave him a sluggish smile. "Sei Seiiii! Git on top! We'll have a threesome!"

"Hell fucking yeah!"

Selphie protested. "No way! He's the fattest one out of all of us!"

"Fuck you! No, I'm not!" Seifer was about to dog pile on top of the girls, but the three of them suddenly heard the door slide open.

"Shit! We should've locked that!" cried the blond, twisting around to see who it was.

Fortunately for them, the person at the door was none other than Squall. He walked in cautiously, noticing the bottles and the three laughing Orphanage Gang members. He rolled his eyes. "Thank Hyne it was me and not a faculty member," he commented, unamused. He glared at them. "I could hear you all the way down the hallway. I'm surprised that no one--"

"Commando!" exclaimed Seifer.

"Squaaaaalll!" Rinoa had gotten off of the Trabian and was now stumbling toward her ex-boyfriend, pouncing on to him in a tight hug.

Squall, feeling awkward at the gesture, took a hold of her arms and immediately pulled her off of him. "What the hell...?" Rinoa hasn't hugged him since their breakup.

Selphie sat up, her expression turning from happy to a little angry. Well, drunken angry. "Rinny, what are you _doing_?!"

The sorceress shrugged, linking her arm through the brunet's. "Saying hi! Whaddya think, Selph?" She gave the shorter girl a dismissive wave. "Don't worry! I'm not gonna do anythin' _suspicious_..." She put a lot of emphasis on the last word.

The little Trabian folded her arms childishly. "Fine. Whatever you say."

Squall glanced at his girlfriend (who looked pretty wasted) and then averted his eyes. He turned to Rinoa. "I was going to ask if you could fill out some paperwork about DFs--"

"Noooo! Don't wanna!" she whined.

He managed to get her deathgrip off him. Rinoa teetered away, smiling at him coyly. "I can see that. I'll just ask you again when you're sober." He was about to turn and leave, but looking at Rinoa's wall clock, he decided that it was time for her guests to head back to their own rooms.

"Seifer," he started, pointing to the clock. "It's about time to leave."

Seifer scowled. "Awww, but Commando!"

"Don't you have a mission briefing with me early tomorrow morning?" he asked pointedly. "So... help Rin clean up this mess and go home."

Rinoa wasn't helping the blond's situation any. "Yeaaaah," she said, cocking her head to one side at her room, namely the area around the coffee table. "It is pretty messy." She giggled a little.

"I'll... take Selphie back." Squall seemed hesitant at first about it, but his protective boyfriend instincts were kicking in.

"You are? Booyaka!" She latched herself on to him, smiling up at him. The Lion felt his heart ache as he looked down into her emerald green eyes. It felt like it's been forever since she smiled at him, even though it was a probably deliriously drunken one.

He missed her. He dared himself to kiss her on the forehead. The girl didn't object. "Let's go," he told her.

She let go of him and happily held his hand as he led her back to her room. Both she and Squall gave their friends brief parting waves as they exited the door.

* * *

Selphie sloppily swiped her keycard, unlocking her door. She entered first, her body swaying as she walked in. Squall followed, catching up to steady her. He put his hands on her shoulders gently. The brunette stopped and suddenly leaned against him, her head on his chest. "Squally..."

Squall's heart jumped. He hasn't heard his nickname in a while. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry." She turned around to face him directly. "I'm a butthead!" She wrapped her arms around his waist. "I'm a stupid butthead."

He shook his head as he put his own arms around her shoulders, holding her closer. "You're not."

"Don't hate me, Squally," she murmured into his shirt. "Don't hate me."

"I don't hate you."

"I said mean things to you. I don't mean any of it." Her voice was turning into an apologetic whine, as if she was trying to come up with excuses for forgetting to turn in her homework for school, but the commander was okay with it. Anything other than the depressed, estranged girl from the past two weeks.

Squall smiled into her hair. "It's okay." He hoped to Hyne that she would act like the same happy Selphie when she sobered up.

"I don't love _him_. Not like I love you." Selphie kissed his chest. "I love you, Squally."

Squall blocked any remnants of inner guilt he had over Irvine's death and pressed his lips against the top of her head. "I love you, too."

The two of them stayed like that for a while.

"Squally?"

He loosened his hold on her and lifted a hand to trace her jawline with his fingers. He gave her a questioning look, prompting her to continue.

She gave him a flirtatious smile. "Stay with me tonight?"

"Sweetie, I have to get up early tom--"

She interrupted him by reaching up on her tiptoes to give him the most mind-blowing kiss she could give him. The kiss was hard and seductive, and he didn't protest. In fact, he welcomed it feverishly. Selphie licked his lips and gently pushed her tongue into his mouth, their kiss deepening further. She grasped him by his jacket and led him back to her bedroom.

He humorously wondered to himself if he should just get Selphie to be drunk more often.

Selphie laid back on the bed while Squall climbed on top, his lips capturing hers again. After a while of making out, they came up for air.

"Squall..." she said breathlessly, looking up at him impishly.

He gave her a light kiss on her lips. "Hm?"

"Do me," she replied softly, his mouth still against hers.

He lifted himself off of her some, staring at her warily. "What?"

Selphie brought him back down to her, delicately biting his bottom lip with affection. "You heard, me Squally."

_(... She wants to fuck. Oh, Hyne...) _Squall thought to himself, gaping at her. _(But well, I guess she really does know what sex is. She's probably not that childish in that aspect.)_ He also had to admit that the way she said it made it very tempting, but... "I can't," he whispered, eyeing her a little sadly. He gave her another butterfly kiss and let his and her foreheads touch as he continued with, "Selphie, you're drunk."

She whimpered in disappointment. "But--"

"No," he told her, his tone a little more firm. "When you're sober."

"I'm sobering up," she insisted in a small voice.

"Maybe you are, but it's not enough, Sweetie," he said. He took in her words of 'sobering up.' If she really was, then maybe the two of them would be okay again after this. The gunblade user really hoped that was the case.

"But I love you..." Selphie sounded almost desperate, but Squall wasn't going to relent.

He smiled a little at her. "You know I love you, too. That's why I want to wait on this. I want it to be special."

She pouted but finally let Squall have his way. "'Kay..."

Squall brushed a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. "I have to go, okay?" He didn't want to leave, but he had to be a good commander and wake up on time and get to work on time. "Good night, Selphie."

"Good night, Squally."

He gave her a last kiss on the lips. He could feel her lips stretch into another smile as he did. Squall left her room feeling light and giddy, as if their relationship was brand-new again. He couldn't keep his own smile off his face. He was very much relieved...

_(... for the moment_,) he finished in thought as he reached his own door. He fished his keycard out of his back pocket.

_A gunblade held firmly by dark leather gloves. A sharp, silver blade thrusting cleanly into a small, familiar frame._

_Blood. Hers._

_"I love you..."_

Squall felt himself wake up with a start.

At least, he felt like he woke up. He realized that, instead of sitting up in something more reasonable like his bed, he was standing in his living room, the door directly behind him. Strangely, he didn't remember entering. It was as if he blacked out while he had that vision.

_(I wonder if they're getting worse,)_ he wondered. This had definitely never happened before, and it was not good. His relationship was more than likely starting to work again, only to have something like this ruin it, like it did before. The commander didn't want to have to avoid Selphie like he tried to last time, but he was afraid of what else could happen... especially with what his visions were about. He also knew that his girlfriend didn't fully understand his situation, and he didn't know how to reassure her that everything was going to be all right, regardless.

Squall forced himself out of thought and trudged to his bathroom. He switched on the light and stared at his reflection. He couldn't tell if he looked any different or not, but Quistis had commented repeatedly on how tired he looked. Maybe he was, but who cared? He didn't.

The brunet turned from the mirror to the door of his bedroom, which was closed. He sighed heavily. Even if he was as incredibly tired as the instructor thought he was, he couldn't bring himself to fall asleep.

* * *

Seifer woke up bright and early that next morning with an incredible headache. He cursed loudly into his pillow and held his head in pain.

What a day to have a mission.

He almost considered calling in sick, but thought better of it. What use was it to back out from a mere hangover when he had a reputation to fix? Having that in mind, he forced himself to roll out of bed.

If only he didn't have that damn headache.

Seifer got ready, necklace, trenchcoat, and everything, and made his way to the commander's office. His headache was starting to subside... or was he just getting used to it? He couldn't tell the difference. He sighed to himself and sauntered through the door.

Seifer found Selphie sitting in a chair in front of Squall's desk. Squall wasn't there yet. She smiled up at him. It was a reserved grin compared to the beaming one she always had previous to the field exam, but at least it wasn't the yellow-clad zombie he had observed dragging herself around Garden before last night's events.

"Morning, Sei Sei," she chirped. "You're early."

_(The hell?)_ "... Don't you feel hung over?" he asked her. "You were pretty fucking trashed last night."

"You mean like, headaches and stuff?" The brunette shook her head, her smile never wavering. "Nope."

Seifer hated her at that moment. He stared at her in wonder for a second, but after a moment of thought, decided to ask her something. "Are you okay, otherwise?" He looked away, as though he didn't want to seem like he cared that much.

She looked up at him quizzically. "Hm?"

He shifted his gaze to narrow his eyes at her. "You know what I mean, Messenger Girl. I know you're not _that_ stupid."

Her smile widened. "Yup!"

Seifer realized that he must've have given her some sort of look, because a second later, she backed down from her happy high, her expression turning serious as she looked down. Her smile was still there, but it looked more nervous than glad. "I did a lot of thinking this morning... about last night," she admitted softly.

He sat down in an adjacent chair that was in front of the desk. "Oh? Like what?" he queried.

She giggled. "Haha, me thinking. That's so weird!"

"Fucking... _Selphie_."

The Trabian stuck her tongue out at him playfully. "Sorry, sorry." She piped down and stared at her hands. "Well, I thought about how I acted last night... how I was before last night. You know, like, how I was with Squall and all of you... especially Squall, actually."

"And?"

"... I'm a dum-dum."

Seifer rolled his eyes at her. She still spoke like a kid, even though she was in her late teens. "A dum-dum? Talk in real words, please."

She pouted at him but continued. "Well, I said some mean things to Squall and pushed him away. I was just overwhelmed with you-know-what and didn't think my words through." She sighed. "And now... I feel bad. I realized last night that Squall was doing only what he thought was right, know what I mean?"

Seifer snorted and smirked at her. "Selph, I think that's the smartest thing I've ever heard you say."

"Tee-hee, I think the alcohol cleared my head rather than fuzzed it all up like it should've," she laughed.

The blond watched her for a while, wondering what was up with her sudden attitude adjustment. He highly doubted that the alcohol alone did anything. _(Did Commando say something?)_ He frowned inwardly. He also doubted that. Squall wouldn't have gotten through to her in that state. But the more Seifer thought about it, the more confused he got, and it was seriously starting to piss him off. And, oh, Hyne, all this thinking was hurting his head even more.

But anyway, the only thing he knew about Selphie was that she wasn't fully back to her old self, which was understandable. Irvine's death was still fresh in not only hers, but in everyone else's minds, yet he couldn't help thinking that there was something amiss about Selphie. He just didn't know what, though. He guessed he'll have to find the answer to his questions about her some other time.

"So, what are you doing here, anyway? he asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, you were supposed to be paired with Firion for your mission," she explained, "but... we all realized that you'd probably kill him before the end of the day, with your personalities... so you got me instead."

"Boooooyaka..." he mumbled under his breath sarcastically.

"Booyaka is right!" she exclaimed.

That was precisely when Squall finally walked in, followed by Rinoa. Seifer noticed that the commander looked ragged as hell, as if he didn't get any sleep at all. The sorceress seemed a little quiet and like she didn't want to be there, which he knew was because of the DF thing. It was a large weight on her shoulders that she was struggling to carry. She was quieter than usual, but still managed to greet him and Selphie with a "good morning."

Squall looked from Seifer to Selphie. He offered the girl a small, but hesitant smile. The nunchaku specialist, on the other hand, grinned back only half-heartedly.

_(What? Half-heartedly? Something's still off...)_ Seifer could tell from the commander's eyes that he was hurt, and that _he_ could tell that Selphie's smile didn't exactly reach her eyes, but being as official as he was, didn't address this personal matter during the briefing.

"Seifer," Squall started, crossing his arms. He looked down at a piece of paper sitting on his desk. "Seems like you've been increasing in rank quickly. Five in two weeks?"

"So?" Seifer scoffed, acting in his usual rebellious way. He grinned smugly. "The tests are a fucking breeze."

"I appreciate you not swearing during official SeeD business." There was a dry tone to Squall's voice.

"That's bullshit."

"Anyway," the Lion continued in a business-like tone, "You and Selphie will be going to Galbadia Garden." He handed Seifer a manila folder. "This is actually more like your first solo mission, since you've apparently been doing really well as SeeD, disregarding your attitude."

"Apparently?" Seifer repeated in disbelief. "My attitude? Hell..."

Squall glared at him and chose not to remark. Rinoa remained silent, looking off into space, while Selphie, surprisingly, didn't react. "As I was saying," the commander said pointedly, "you basically have a solo mission, with Selphie supervising you. You're still a low-level, so it's probably not as exciting as you'd hope."

Seifer tsked, propping his head up with his hand. "What is it, then?"

"Retrieving research files from G-Garden's archives and bringing them back to me. They know you're coming. Nothing sneaky about it."

"... That's it?"

"Told you." Squall shrugged. He looked at the clock. "I'm expecting you guys back in the evening. You're not taking the Ragnarok, so don't try." He nodded at the two of them. "Dismissed."

Selphie hopped out of her chair. "Meet me in the garage, Sei Sei," she told her subordinate. "I'll be down there in a bit." She smiled somewhat cheerily. Emphasis on somewhat.

Seifer glowered at her but followed her order, anyway, walking slowly out of the room with no more than a lazy wave to the others.

Squall turned to look at Selphie, who by then had focused her attention to him. He moved from behind his desk to stand in front of her. He had a feeling she had something to tell him, and he was anxious to hear it.

"Squall..."

Squall, not Squally. He sighed inwardly. He had hoped for too much since last night's events. Only drunken Selphie would continue to call him Squally.

"... Can I talk to you?"

He knew it. She needed to talk. And as much as he wanted to, SeeD business always came first. Squall ran a hand through his hair. "But you have a--"

"Yeah, but briefly. Please?"

It was those eyes again. It was nothing but a simple stare, but Squall was always falling deep into that sharp emerald green. After forcing himself to look away from her entrancing orbs, he glanced at Rinoa, who was watching them with slight interest. "Uh, could you wait outside for a little bit? Sorry."

Rinoa's lips turned up a little. "Of course." She walked past them and out the door. It closed behind her with a familiar hiss.

When she was gone, Selphie cast her eyes to the ground, as if embarrassed with what she was going to say. "Squall..."

Squall was worrying about what she was going to tell him. Was it going to be bad? Was she going to break up with him? Was last night just something she only did when drunk? Was--

"I'm sorry..."

_(Oh.)_ "You apologized already," he told her with a slight smile.

"I was drunk..."

He shook his head. "Sef... Selph, I know. don't worry about it."

"No, Squall, I'm sorry about how I acted last night, being all drunk and--" she cut herself off as a blush crept up her cheeks.

"I know. I said don't worry." The commander ducked his head so that his lips could reach hers for a brief kiss. To his dismay, she flinched and backed away, bowing her head further down.

The playful smile he had was gone instantly. Squall felt a brief pang in his chest, but he should've expected her to act this way. His blue-gray eyes observed her sadly. He fought the urge to reach out and pull her to him, squeezing his hands into fists and keeping his arms at his sides.

"I meant what I said, though," Selphie continued, raising her head again. He noticed something darker about her eyes. He didn't know what it was, but he knew he wouldn't be able to make them as bright as they should be. "It's just that... I'm still... you know..." She looked away uncomfortably.

Squall hated it, but he couldn't squash down the mixture of the feelings of sadness, guilt and jealousy when it came to Irvine. Sadness because of his death. Guilt because of what he had sent his squad to do. Jealousy because he was never really higher on the list than Irvine was. In fact, he was probably way below him. Selphie _loved_ Irvine. Maybe she was no longer _in_ love with the cowboy, but they were extremely close. Squall admitted to himself that he was jealous of that. Squall loved Selphie more than anything, but he felt like Irvine was always number one. It frustrated him that something like this could affect their relationship so much, but he was doing the best he could for her, wasn't he?

Why did he have such ill feelings, then? Why couldn't he shake them off? Why should Irvine's death affect their relationship as if Squall was some kind of affair? Or hell, even as a _rebound_? This would be one hell of a rebound, a relationship going on far too long to be considered one, but still.

_(I could never be like you, can I, Irvine?)_

Of course not. He was never part of the SelphieIrvine group, nor even the SelphieIrvineSeifer one. They were best friends. Squall probably never understood her like Irvine did. He bet that she never cried over him like she has cried over Irvine in the past.

He was never good enough.

It was greedy of him, he knew. He needed to leave Selphie room. Her best friend, and one of _his_ great friends, died recently. This was the wrong time to be mad, but he felt so helpless with her. There was nothing he could do to help her but to stay away, but at the same time he couldn't, because he needed her to help him endure his difficulties, too. He didn't want to do that alone.

"You really did love him, didn't you?" Squall asked out of the blue. He didn't mean for the words to come out; they were originally just a part of his thoughts, but it was too late to take them back now.

She blinked at him incredulously. "Squall...?"

Squall averted his gaze, his eyes boring into the ground. "... Never mind." He changed the topic by gesturing toward the door and adding, "You better leave. Seifer'll get mad."

Selphie frowned at him.

He managed to grin down at her. "Be back safe, Sweetie." He turned his back to her and started for the desk. He didn't want to see the expression on her face. He was afraid of being right. He knew he would be, but he didn't want to face the reality of it. He didn't want to hear it from her, either. He just wanted her to leave so that she couldn't make him feel worse than he already did.

But to his chagrin, there was silence. No words from her mouth, no hissing of the office door, no footsteps. Selphie hasn't budged.

The commander pursed his lips together as he froze in place, wondering what would happen next.

"Yes."

It was said softly and almost unsurely, but it was loud and clear in Squall's ears. His eyes rested on the letter opener sitting on his desk.

_Yes._

"But I said before, Squall," she went on in that same tone, "that I meant what I said last night... you remember that, don't you?"

The tone in Selphie's voice wasn't convincing to him. "I do," he responded gruffly. The more he stared at the letter opener, the more he was tempted to just die. "See you tonight," he added.

No more was uttered, and Selphie had no choice but to leave. Squall never once turned to look at her.

Once she was gone, he collapsed into his chair. He leaned over, placing his elbows on his desk and burying his face in his hands. Squall heard the door open again.

"Squall?"

It was Rinoa. Of course it would be. Selphie wouldn't come back and take back her words. Especially not _those_ words.

He didn't move, but he could hear his ex-girlfriend's footsteps as she went to him. He felt her weight on his desk, as if she decided to sit down on it.

"What happened?" she asked gently. Her voice was close. He could almost feel her breath in his ear.

He finally lifted his head from his hands and turned to her. To his surprise, the girl's concerned face was practically in his. He leaned away slightly, uncomfortable with her closeness. _(What is she doing?)_

"We should start heading to Esthar," was all he responded with, getting up from his desk.

Rinoa got up as well, smiling at him. "Sure."

Uh-oh. Squall raised an eyebrow. He recognized something about it, and it was the coy, flirtatiousness in it. But why would she smile like that? "... Is something wrong, Rinoa?" he asked stoically, watching her carefully. The sorceress seemed very different somehow, very un-Rinoa-like, and it wasn't because she's been hustling and bustling with the DF business.

She just shrugged mysteriously.

_(Okay...)_

Maybe he was just imagining things. A lot has been going on lately, anyway. And what was he doing thinking that his ex-girlfriend was trying to hit on him? Squall tilted his head briefly toward the door. "Let's go. Running late as it is." Without waiting for an answer, he sauntered toward it.

Suddenly, he felt two arms wrap snugly around his waist, preventing him from moving anymore.

_(What the?!)_

The moment felt frozen. What Rinoa did felt so out of place that Squall didn't know how to react at first. A look of shock crossed his face. Something strange was indeed going on with her.

"Rinoa," he said firmly, finally gathering his thoughts. An intimate action like this (intimate to him, anyway) was unacceptable. "What are you doing?"

"It really sucks about you and Selphie," she sighed innocently. "I just wanted to let you know that--"

"Let go of me, please."

Her grip tightened. "Aw, so mean..." she remarked in a baby voice. She giggled. "You shouldn't be mean to your ex-girlfriend, you know," she added in a sing-song voice. She snuggled into the back of his jacket comfortably. "It's been a while since we touched like this, hasn't it?"

He gritted his teeth in annoyance. "What the hell? We're both over each other! What--" Squall stopped himself. This was definitely not Rinoa. She would never say anything like that. Especially after the way the two of them have broken up.

_(That could only mean...)_ The commander theorized that Hecate was influencing Rinoa's actions. "Hecate," he spoke up in a calmer voice. "Let go. Now."

She loosened her grip some, but didn't let go completely. "Hm? Hecate? But I'm--"

"Hecate, Rinoa. Fuck, whatever. We're late," he told her in an aggravated tone. "We have to go to Esthar _now_. Give Rinoa back."

"You let Selphie stay a little longer here..."

"That's different."

"..."

Squall didn't know what the silence after his reply meant, but he didn't have to wait long for that answer. A sharp, prickly feeling burned his back as he felt a Thunder spell hit him point black. Thunder was a weak spell, but the commander was completely defenseless as he shot forward from the impact. Rinoa's arms left him as he hit the wall in front of him.

Recovering quickly, Squall pushed himself away from the wall and turned to face Rinoa... or Hecate... or whoever she was at the moment. Glaring at her, he opened his mouth to let her have it until he noticed her face, especially Rinoa's eyes.

They were the same brown he has known since he met her, but there was something abysmal about her dark orbs. They weren't warm and friendly at all. Squall felt like he was going to fall into them, but not in the way he would be hypnotized by Selphie's. These eyes were more like black holes.

They were creepily sinister, and even the Lion himself was a little scared.

"Rin--" Squall began cautiously, but cut himself off. "Hecate."

Her face remained serious and cold. "Oh, I'm still Rinoa, Squall... technically. But I'm not at that stage yet."

He couldn't help cringing at Rinoa's voice. The timbre of it was still there, but there was an odd, hollow but brassy quality to it that irritated his ears. "Stage?" he repeated.

"Completely absorbing the human we junction with takes a while, depending on each of us," she explained matter-of-factly, stepping closer until she was about a foot away. "Think of it as a continuum. The more power and energy we absorb, the more we influence the human. And the closer the continuum moves toward the side Hecate completely is."

Intriguing. Squall took in this information. This was something important he would need to talk to Odine about. He needed to know more. A lot more. "Where's the real Rinoa?" he asked quietly.

Rinoa scoffed as her hand suddenly came up. With it wrapped around his neck, she used that hand to push him harshly back against the wall. Squall hissed in pain, the damage from the Thunder spell still fresh on his body. The fingers around his throat tightened, but he couldn't let himself look weak in front of this enemy.

"No more," she said, her voice low and her eyes narrowed. Bolts of lightning crackled around her hand, the same one that was holding him against the wall by the neck. "I am not here to answer your questions."

Squall realized that he couldn't have Hecate manifested for very long... from what Odine told him, any time the DF explicitly influenced whoever it was junctioned to, the person would lose a significant amount of energy. He needed to figure out a way to get the real Rinoa back before anything terrible happened. He also didn't want to resort to hurting her.

"Whatever you want from us..." he muttered, his voice strained against her grip, "... now's not the time." He didn't lift a finger, hoping that his lack of aggression would will her to not do anymore damage and possibly return to normal.

Rinoa would not relent, however. "I will not be equated with a lab rat of that stupid man's," she sputtered angrily. The bolts around her spiked dangerously, but didn't hurt him.

"Try to kill me if you want, but you're not getting anything out of me," he said evenly.

"I can't hurt you too much," Rinoa replied quickly, as if correcting him.

This surprised Squall. He hesitated unsurely before responding with, "What?"

"You're my knight."

It was stated quietly with certainty, but the commander stared at her in bewilderment. "Knight?" He hasn't heard that word in a long time.

Rinoa leaned in closer, her cryptically evil eyes square on his widened, confused ones. "Knight."

Suddenly, Squall felt everything from the year before come back to him like a flash flood. Becoming SeeD, meeting Rinoa, saving her, the battles with the other sorceresses, time compression... everything was rushing through his mind.

_(What's going on...?)_

All he could see in these flashbacks was Rinoa. As if, she was supposed to be his main focus. As if he was in love with her. Only someone who loved her would think of her this much. When he was still with her, she was always on his mind.

_(Why is she showing me this?)_

The moment was reminiscent of what happened after the defeat of Ultimecia. These sudden flashbacks, the static of the flooding memories entering his mind. He could barely see Rinoa in front of him. His eyes were only on the memories playing in his head.

"Stop it," he managed to grunt. All of this was making his head ache terribly. "Stop!"

"Remember the promise you made to me, Squall?"

The voice sounded soft and almost... innocent. It sounded like the Rinoa he fell in love with long ago. Squall wasn't a fool, though. He wouldn't fall for the trap that easily.

_(Sorry, Rin,)_ he thought as he managed to gather enough energy and control to headbutt the girl in front of him, his forehead colliding with hers. He felt the visions suddenly disappear from both his mind and his sight, and instead, he watched a SeeD in light blue topple to the ground at his feet. Ignoring the pain in his head for the action, he kneeled down and examined her passed-out body. He hoped he didn't hit her _too_ hard and cause any worrisome damage to her head. From what he could see, Rinoa seemed fine.

A soft groan emitted from her. He watched with both relief and wariness as she turned her head slightly. Her eyes fluttered open. With her now-normal coffee-brown eyes, she looked up at Squall in confusion. "What...? OWWW, my head..." She finished with a whimper, holding her head in both hands. "Ow ow ow ow..."

It was the real Rinoa, all right.

He sighed. "Time to go, Rinoa."

"Ow..."

Squall held her by the arm as he pulled her up, practically dragging her out the room. "We're late." _(I want to tell Odine everything before I forget any details...)_

"Hey, be more gentle with an injured girl! What kind of commander are you?"

"No time."

No time. In more ways than one.

* * *

Evening had fallen fast.

Before Selphie knew it, she and Seifer were back from their mission. Maybe it was the fact she was on a low-level mission. Those felt a lot shorter now that she was top level and normally doing high-level ones.

"Damn, that was fucking tiring," Seifer complained with a sigh as they reached the garage back at Balamb Garden. "Driving to Balamb, taking a boat to Dollet and taking those damn trains..."

"I thought they were fun..." she said, frowning at him.

"_You_ would."

Selphie parked the Balamb car back in its proper spot. Turning off the engine, she glanced at her subordinate and smiled. "I guess you should go report to Squall." She pointed at the files.

He raised an eyebrow. "Don't you need to come, too?"

She hopped out of the car. "I don't really want to see him now." She slammed the door behind her before Seifer could immediately reply.

She began walking in the direction of the dorms, but Seifer was at her tail, firing questions at her back. "Selphie, isn't that... un-professional? Aren't you like, gung-ho about this shit? Is there something going one between you and Commando?"

She stopped. The Trabian heard him stop directly behind her. That same smile was still on her face as she answered. "Just tell Squall I'm really tired and that I'm going to rest. And... I don't wanna be bothered."

Selphie knew it would hurt Squall. It would also look bad as a SeeD to not report alongside her teammate. She has hurt Squall as much as he had hurt her. Doesn't it even out? Isn't that good enough?

"Selphie, you're coming with me," she heard Seifer say to her. His voice was stern.

"He'll understand..." As soon as the words left her mouth, she started walking off again. Her footsteps were more rushed than before; she was practically running away.

"SELPHIE! GET YOUR STUPID ASS BACK HERE!" he yelled, catching the attention of both nearby students and faculty.

Whoops... _faculty_. But nothing Squall or even Quistis can't cover up for him, right? Selphie pondered this briefly as she found herself back in the familiar hall that led to the dormitory. She craned her head. Seifer was no longer behind her. Maybe he got too lazy to catch up to her and went ahead to see their commander. Well, good.

Selphie reached her room with no interruption. The door shut behind her as she entered her dark dorm room. She switched on the light.

_"Mission completed with ol' Seif? Took ya a while."_

Selphie grinned hollowly, turning to the figure lounging on her couch. "Yeah, well, I'm back now... aren't I, Irvy?"

* * *

"Why are you alone?"

Those were the first words to fly out of Squall's mouth upon Seifer's entrance.

He must have sounded exceedingly harsh, for his subordinate pretended to back away in fear. "Holy shit, Commando," Seifer exclaimed, giving a low whistle. "Calm down. I'm just a SeeD who completed his mission here."

Like he always did, Squall ignored Seifer's jokes. "Where's Selphie? Why the hell isn't she delivering the files with you? Did she come back with you?" His voice was becoming more urgent.

"Would I be in this kind of mood if she didn't come back with me?"

Squall didn't say anything to that. Instead, he changed the topic, scowling. "Carry on. Report, SeeD. And get out of my sight."

Seifer smirked. He could see that Squall was starting to use him as some sort of verbal punching bag. Well, he guessed he could understand... having a lot of responsibility as a commander, along with all those personal problems burdened upon them. He would have to keep the mood buoyant, then. "I thought you wanted me to answer--"

"Goddammit, Almasy."

Hm. Squall seemed to be in an exceptionally bad mood. Seifer shrugged casually. "Nothing to report. Selphie and I went to G-Garden, talked to the Headmaster, got the files, and left. No problems, no random encounters... hell, we didn't even stop to eat and I'm starving. Happy?" Seifer held up the files he was supposed give to the commander in front of his face.

Squall grabbed them and looked them over briefly. He set them on his desk and then turned back Seifer. "Written report due tomorrow," he said tiredly, still annoyed and emotionally weary from the day's events. "Get out."

"Dismissed, you mean? What kind of commander are you?" Seifer laughed, sloppily saluting him. He started to turn, but then stopped, facing the Lion again. "Hey, I got something to ask you... Leonhart."

The use of his real name instead of a stupid nickname piqued the brunet's interest. In a controlled, even voice, he spoke up. "What is it, Seifer?"

"What's that messenger girl's problem?" Seifer scratched the back of his head in slight annoyance. "Shit, Commando. As soon as we left the garage, she went off to the dorms to allegedly sleep or whatever. I told her we had to report together to you, but--"

"That's not like her," Squall interjected. He turned away from Seifer in thought.

"I know! She also said she didn't want to be bothered... mainly by you."

"Hn." The words were no longer surprising to Squall.

Seifer caught the casual response. "Hey! Aren't you concerned?!"

"I'm thinking!" Squall snapped loudly. "And you don't think I haven't gotten that kind of... I don't know... treatment from her before?! She's brushed me off plenty of times and this is no different!"

Seifer began to frown. He wondered if Squall was aware that he has done the same thing.

"Of course I'm concerned," Squall continued in a quieter tone. "But there's... really nothing I can do. Selphie's become too unpredictable, even for me, and I'm her boyfriend." _(At least... I think I am...)_ he finished in his head.

"I guess... you don't know what makes her happy anymore?"

Squall raised an eyebrow at his rival, who was looking back at him attentively. What a very un-Seifer thing to ask. "... Maybe not now. But in the light of all this... crap, all I can really do is give her space." The commander could feel his heart lurch as the words left his mouth. His talk with the Trabian came to mind. An assortment of various feelings were plaguing him because of that, and even though he would defend her actions to his friends, and tell them things that seemed right and unselfish, Squall himself didn't know if he would be able to practice whatever flew out of his mouth.

"Hey, Leonhart."

_(Oh, he's still there.)_ Squall turned back toward the blond. "What, Seifer?"

Seifer cast his eyes to the ground, as if embarrassed. "Yeah, well... even though Selphie's acting all fucked up or whatever... I think she still loves you. It's just... she probably doesn't know what to do with herself."

What a cheesy idiot. Still, the brunet had to appreciate the effort. He imagined that it was hard for Seifer to say something so... unmanly to him, although the taller boy was obviously stumbling over his words. It was almost funny. Maybe he should give Seifer a little push. Trying not to smirk, Squall asked him, "Why do you care?"

Seifer chuckled rather nervously and shifted his feet. Perhaps he was trying to look smooth, but he looked more awkward than before. "Well, you're Puberty Boy."

Yes, that made perfect sense. He had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes. "And?"

"Well... she's Messenger Girl. And Sefie."

_(What?)_ "..."

"Well--"

"You're not even trying to make sense, are you, Almasy?"

Seifer narrowed his eyes at Squall. "Shit, this is hard for me, Commando. Cut me some slack!" He turned his back and started for the door, continuing in an annoyed ramble. "I was just worried about both of you fuckers. You're my friends, for fuck's sake. Goddammit, you guys are better when you're happy--"

"You should've said that in the first place."

Seifer froze and craned his neck to give Squall a puzzled look. "Huh?"

Keeping a straight face, Squall motioned toward the door. "Nothing. Leave."

Seifer snorted. "Fine." He stepped forward, the door opening in front of him.

"By the way--"

"What now, Commando?"

Squall's lips stretched upward slightly, his mouth forming a grateful grin. "Thanks."

Unfortunately for his subordinate, he looked like he was going to be traumatized at first. The stoic, grumpy commander actually, genuinely smiled at him. It has been a while since that happened. Nevertheless, he was glad Squall wasn't as angry as he was when Seifer had first come in. He laughed as he left. "Yeah, love you too, Sweetheart," he called back as the door shut.

* * *

Another week has passed, and the president of Esthar took it upon himself to make a trip to Balamb. He didn't have any official reason for doing so, but he thought his presence would make Squall feel better, although many others would beg to differ.

Laguna wondered why he could get around Esthar easily by himself, but for the life of him, could not successfully find his son's dorm room in the much smaller Balamb Garden. Scratching the back of his head in frustration, he continued down the dorm hallway.

_(He might actually be in his office...)_ he suddenly realized. He turned a corner, contemplating his stupidity. _(Why didn't I think of that earlier...?)_

He knew he should have brought Kiros and Ward with him instead of traveling by himself.

He skimmed across each door in the hallway, starting to notice that each resident or pair of residents had personalized their doors in some way, mainly with nametags and photographs. Most names and faces were unknown to him. However, he stopped when he found Selphie's door. Her door was decorated with a large nametag with bubbly yellow letters and various photos of her, Squall, and the rest of her "orphanage gang." Also tacked on to it were flyers about the Garden Festival and various other event committees she was part of.

Laguna decided to give her door a knock. As Squall's father, he thought it should be important to have a good rapport with his son's girlfriend, namely if she has been treating him well. No reason why he shouldn't say hi to her.

The Esthar president rapped on the SeeD's door, but no one answered.

_(Maybe she's on a mission?)_ Laguna shrugged to himself. Oh, well. Time to continue the search for Squall, anyway. He was about to turn on the door when he suddenly heard a loud laugh.

_(Oh, so she's there after all.)_ It confused him as to why she wouldn't answer the door if she seemed like she as in a chipper mood. He knew he was loud enough for her to hear him.

_(Well, since I'm already here...)_ Laguna raised his hand to knock again, but then he heard Selphie's voice through the door.

_"No way, Irvy! I think it's a huge bummer!"_

What? The dark-haired man blinked in surprise, dropping his arm to his side. _(... Irvy? Is that what she said?)_ Laguna didn't bother with listening to the rest of what the Trabian had to say. What he heard was enough. He was completely fixated on what she said in the beginning.

_No way, Irvy._

Laguna wasn't that stupid. He could tell something was off about that statement. Actually, something was off about _Selphie_. The Estharian had to wonder who she was talking to, and why this person was addressed as Irvy, a.k.a. the deceased Irvine Kinneas.

_"Sei-Sei was such a stupidface on the train. Kept telling me to shut up when I tried to sing. You'd never do that, right, Irvy? You're the nice one of our posse!"_

He also realized that no one had replied to the girl's words. The person with her was either a much quieter talker than Selphie, or she was on the phone. Or maybe she was talking to herself, or... a picture of him? People did that sometimes, but for all he knew, Selphie could just be in an unstable psychological state. _(Does Squall know about this...?)_

_"Tee-hee. I know, right?"_

Laguna had been ready to accept his talking-to-a-picture scenario when the last words came out of Selphie's mouth. People who talked to pictures never waited for the pictures to talk back to them, right? But this was as if she was a kid with an imaginary friend or something. He was contemplating whether or not he should actually see what was up with Selphie when he heard a voice behind him.

"President Loire?"

Laguna turned around, startled. He found a shorter, blond-haired, muscular SeeD member staring at him oddly. "Uh... Zell Dincht?" he greeted unsurely.

Zell, who didn't look like his noticeably chipper self, nodded. "Yo." He looked from the man to the door. "What are you doing in front of Selphie's?"

Awkward. Laguna thought it was smarter not to tell Zell about Selphie, so he made up an excuse. "... Thought I'd say hi, since she was... you know, on the way to see Squall!" Laguna laughed. "I mean, she is my son's girlfriend, after all--" _(Ow, leg cramp!)_ At least it was only half a lie.

"Cool." Zell smiled wanely and then started to walk past him, his head bowed and his hands in his pockets.

_(Has everyone's personality done a one-eighty or what?)_ the older male wondered, raising an eyebrow at the SeeD's distant behavior. "Uh, say, where are you headed off to?" Laguna questioned suddenly, realizing that maybe Zell would lead him in the right direction to his son.

The martial artist stopped and turned. "Squall sent me to get Rinoa. Dunno why he can't do it himself, but..." Zell shrugged.

"Oh," Laguna replied. He scratched the back of his head. "Well, since you're gonna eventually stop by Squall, maybe I can tag along. That okay?"

"Go ahead. Not really sure why you can't find him yourself. Even chickenwusses know where to go." He snorted under his breath.

Laguna sensed something weirdly bitter about the last statement. Bitter was something he never thought he would describe this young man. He sighed inwardly. Maybe it was just him actually thinking too much. When was the last time that happened?

Oh well, time to test out his theories. _(Zell's the hot dog lover, right?)_ If he was still himself, then this should stir up a positive response. "Hey, so... have any great hot dogs lately?" the machine gunman asked out of the blue.

Zell gave him an odd look. "Huh?"

"... Never mind."

* * *

Rinoa turned to her side in her bed, mumbling to herself in her sleep. Well, she wasn't fully asleep, but she felt too tired and lethargic to get up. Wasn't there something she had to do today? Perhaps it was another visit to Esthar, but well, they had enough information from her, didn't they?

"Rinoa!"

There was a loud knock on her front door. The voice sounded a little familiar. No one important, hopefully, because she wasn't going to get up. The sorceress buried herself under her blanket, hoping to muffle the cries of her name.

_Clang!_ "Fuck... hey, Rinoa! Open the door!"

It seemed like someone hit the door a little too hard. Rinoa ignored the possibilities of a broken door as she continued to lay in bed. "Go away," she managed to mumble, clearly not loud enough for her visitor to hear.

"Squall sent me to get you!"

A part of Rinoa sensed that something was wrong. She glanced at the time on her alarm clock, and noticed that it was in fact relatively late that day. She normally woke up at a consistent time in the mornings, at approximately 0900 hours if she didn't have a mission or some errand to run. But for some reason, she felt very heavy, even in her bed. Even with the amount of sleep she had the night before, she was still unexplainably tired.

She didn't know what was going on.

She heard a heavy sigh from the other side of the door. "I'll just barge in, then. I know you never lock your door."

It was her turn to sigh. He was right.

She heard her door suddenly slide open. More than one pair of footsteps briskly made their way to her bedroom door, which also slid open, revealing a blond boy with a tattoo on his face. Behind him was a taller, older-looking man with long black hair.

"Zell," she spoke up, forcing herself to sit up. _(What the...?)_ She furrowed a brow at herself. It shouldn't have been an effort for her. She shouldn't be fatigued nor feel faint.

Zell's expression changed. For once, since the time he yelled at her the evening of the ball, he looked concerned for her. "Rin? You sound sick."

_(I can't be sick!)_ Rinoa exclaimed in her mind. She was perfectly fine just yesterday! "No, I can't be..." she replied to him, pushing herself out of bed. She stood up next to it and shifted forward so that she was standing in front of her fellow SeeD. "There's no reason for me--" She cut herself short when she started to see patches of black enter her vision. She leaned forward and clutched Zell's arms for support.

"Don't tell me she's turning weird, too..." she heard Laguna murmur.

Both she and Zell stared at him funny.

Noticing their eyes on him, he chuckled and waved his hand at them dismissively. "Oh, sorry, just talking to myself..."

"I trust you've been like, taking care of yourself, right?" Zell asked Rinoa, turning back to her quickly. "Like, being healthy or whatever, right?"

"Of course..." she muttered in a soft voice. "I'm not stupid with that stuff." Her body felt heavy. She felt like something was draining her energy by the minute. She narrowed her eyes. It could only mean--

"Hecate," Zell mumbled slowly, finishing her thought. He held her arms firmly to keep her standing. "It has to do with her, then."

"Hecate?" Laguna repeated. He took a step closer to the two teens, examining the sorceress. Rinoa met his scrutinizing gaze weakly, not knowing what to tell him.

The president exhaled slowly. "So, this whole thing about DFs is true. Man..." Laguna turned and faced the wall, scratching the back of his head in contemplation.

Rinoa turned back to Zell, who was looking at her in a way she couldn't decipher. "Zell..." The black was spreading, and her body was pulling her to the ground like a powerful magnet. Her knees finally gave as she crumpled to the ground, everything suddenly going dark. The last thing she remembered was Zell calling her name...

... and a quiet, evil, feminine laugh echoing in her mind.

* * *

_Yeah, about time, right?_

_I vaguely remember last time mentioning my thoughts about a "soundtrack" for this story that didn't include FFVIII music. These are some songs I had in mind and some elaboration. If you find my music taste stupid, then oh, well. This music isn't the only stuff I listen to, anyway. :P :_

_01) Steps - "Just Like The First Time" -- I only chose this song because the leading vocal in this particular song (Lisa Scott-Lee) reminded me of what I think Selphie's voice would sound like. It's cute and bouncy without being too high and irritating._

_02) Nobuo Uematsu - "Aria Di Mezzo Carattere" -- This is probably one of my favorite Final Fantasy songs. It's very moving and theatrical without being... I don't know, too much. And of course, I had to use it if I wanted Selphie to have a FFVI opera-inspired show._

_03) Nobuo Uematsu - "Roaming Sheep" -- I used this song in the story (where Selphie was singing in her room) mainly because I didn't want to use real-world music and rename them. I'm not really sure why I don't like that in fanfics. O.o So... I stuck to Final Fantasy music._

_04) Nobuo Uematsu - "Frontier Village Dali (Piano Collections Version)" -- My favorite FFIX song on the FFIX Piano Collections. I never noticed the song in the game until I heard this version, and I totally fell in love with it. It's kind of melancholy, but I always had this song playing when I was writing an emo or depressing scene. So, this is the official emo-scene-song for MICW. Lol._

_05) M.O.V.E. - "White Fox" -- I think for a while, when I was writing this chapter and the one before it, I had M.O.V.E.'s GRID album playing, and this song came up during a REVOLUTION scene. This song sounds calm and almost calculating to me, and to me, fit as the REVOLUTION theme song. :P_

_06) M.O.V.E. - "Angel Eyes" -- Also off of the GRID album. I'm not really sure why every time I listen to this song, I think of my story. It may be because, like I said before, I was listening to the GRID album while writing. Therefore, it's part of the soundtrack, too. :P_

_07) Muse - "Time is Running Out" -- This song is for the previous chapter, when Irvine, Archer, and Brie were fighting Ciel, because, well, they were running out of time. O.o ... And I think this would make a nice battle song for that._

_08) BYAKKO - "Kachoufuusetsu" -- Okay, so I incorrectly called it Hana Chou Fuusetsu for some reason, but I have the right name now. This song is from Beatmania IIDX 14: DistorteD. It's also great battle music for the last chapter, when Irvine brought out his GF... Byakko._

_09) Josh Groban - "Gira Con Me" -- I think I had this playing while writing Selphie and Squall's scene when they were digging through the rubble. For some reason, I found this song fitting for the mood of that scene. I don't know what else to say about it. O.o_

_10) The All-American Rejects - "Move Along" -- For some reason, I really see this song as an ending song for this story, if it was like, I don't know some TV show or something. Oh, and some of the lyrics are in the title of this chapter. Duh. D:_

_So, that's all I have to say. Stay tuned for next chapter. ;D_


	13. XII: I Imagined You There

**Author's Note:** _Ohhhhh, snap._

_Yeah, I'm back. To B&V readers: sorry, but I'm still working on it. QQ  
_

**DISCLAIMER:** Final Fantasy VIII belongs to Square-Enix and its other respectful owners, blah blah. Not mine except for the characters and other things I obviously made up.

* * *

**Maybe It Could Work**

_**by Elcyion Pitye**_

* * *

**XII. I Imagined You There**

"This bitch better talk and not waste my time," Seifer grumbled as he followed Quistis to the quarantine room.

"I told you she agreed to do so," the blonde told him in a business-like manner. She stopped in front of a door, where two lower-level SeeDs were standing watch. They seemed to recognize her, thus unlocking the door for her and the blond rookie. After both she and Seifer entered, they found a clipboard-equipped Nida and a laptop-holding Alethea standing in front of the viewing window to Bethe's cell. The Revolution member was shifting uncomfortably in her chair, as if waiting anxiously for something.

"D'Artemus?" Quistis spoke up in a questioning tone, wondering why the rookie was there with Nida.

"She's shadowing me," Nida answered for her. He gestured toward Seifer. "I think much in the same way Almasy's shadowing you."

"Right." Rookies and lower-level SeeDs who wanted to gain fast experience and earn quick favor of the Garden Committee and SeeD sometimes requested to shadow and assist high-level SeeDs in harder work and missions.

"Anyway, now that you're here," Nida went on, "we can start questioning Rhiannon. Squall's coming in a little late, so don't mind his absence. So..." He turned to Alethea and smiled a little. "Let's go."

Alethea, who looked frightened at the thought of coming face-to-face with an anarchist, did nothing but nod hesitantly and follow her superior. The Ragnarok pilot led her to a door at the corner of the room.

Seifer and Quistis stared through window as Nida approached Bethe, with Alethea cowering slightly behind him.

"So, you've been telling people that you're willing to talk," said the second-year SeeD to the the anarchist, his voice crackling through the overhead speaker right outside the room where the two blonds were.

"I did a lot of thinking," was the short response. Her voice was calm enough, but she still shot the two SeeDs a glowering look. "I don't want to be part of REVOLUTION anymore. I no longer trust that dumbass cause and the people in it. By talking, I thought I'd betray them in a big way. With all that's happened, things are only going to go out of their control, and they're the ones trying to overthrow all of you."

"Are you talking about the SeeD field exam?" Nida queried.

"What else would I be talking about?" she snapped.

From the other side of the room, Quistis smirked at Seifer. "Her attitude reminds me of someone."

"Yeah, fuck you," Seifer snorted. He crossed his arms and avoided looking at her.

"I mean it in a good way..."

"Quisty, I'm trying to listen to Nida here."

"That's not any way to speak to your superior," a third voice chimed in dryly.

Quistis and Seifer turned and found Squall sauntering up to them, joining them in observing the questioning.

"Well, you superiors should learn to not be late," Seifer shot at him. "Where were you, anyway?"

Squall didn't answer. Instead, he pointed at the viewing window, wanting to get back to business.

".... I don't know what you people know what really happened," Bethe was saying. "You say that all you know was that D-District exploded 'late.'" She snickered humorlessly. "I bet I know who's fault that was."

"Jarek Guthrie?" Nida asked, raising an eyebrow as he skimmed through one of the papers on his clipboard.

"Ciel," she corrected him. Bethe shook her head, as if she didn't want to think about it. "She... she's another story."

Nida nodded with interest, briefly glancing in the onlookers' direction, although he couldn't see them through the window. He then nodded at Alethea, who took it as a cue to start taking notes. She obediently pulled up a spare chair that was in the room and opened up the small laptop in her lap.

The higher-leveled SeeD turned back to the redhead. "Tell us about it," he prompted.

Bethe went on to tell Nida about Ciel's deteriorating personality from the time of Azul's death to her killing Jarek, to what probably happened afterward concerning the final explosion. From the other side of the window, Squall, Seifer, and Quistis' worry increased.

"I wonder if Rinoa will have to go through the same thing," Quistis pondered. She shifted her gaze to Squall. "Has her personality changed at all, Squall?"

After a pause, the commander reluctantly nodded. "I've seen her... as Hecate."

"The hell... when were you planning on telling us, Leonhart?" Seifer asked glaringly.

"I was planning to do so after this, and after more information has been gathered," he answered without missing a beat. "So calm down, Seifer."

"Fucking hell, I _am_ calm," the taller gunblade user sputtered angrily.

Squall rolled his eyes and fixated himself on Nida and Bethe.

"... she was in love with him, you know," said the anarchist. She snorted at the memory. "It was a little obvious, but we never said anything. Ciel never told anyone 'til he was gone, though--"

"Why wouldn't she?" questioned Nida.

"Hell if I know," Bethe muttered, shrugging in her chair. "I do know, though... she held a lot of grudges, but I think Azul was really the only other person who knew Ciel well. In retrospect, I didn't know the girl at all. No one did."

"So, to this day, there's not much you can tell us of Ciel," the dark-haired SeeD concluded. He sifted through some papers and then jotted something down. "Okay, Rhiannon, I want to steer our conversation--"

"You mean interrogation," she corrected in annoyance.

"-- to the day of the train station explosion," he finished, ignoring her interjection.

"Tch, get on with it, SeeD. What do you want to know?"

"Three of our people, who were cadets at the time, claimed to have come in contact with a weird summon called Reaper."

For the first time, Bethe grew hesitant about answering. She cast her eyes to the ground, thinking.

Nida took this opportunity to go on. "The cadets claimed that whatever Azul's summon power did, it traumatized them to the very core." He frowned. "I would think that it'd be a lot more powerful than any GF."

(At the words about the day he, Irvine, and Fujin encountered Reaper, Seifer bowed his head somberly, remembering how bad it was.)

Bethe bit her lip, no longer acting defensive. "Well, there _was_ something really fucking off about Azul's GF. It was like, in a category of its own."

"A DF," Alethea suddenly murmured from where she was.

Bethe gave her a look. "A what?" Something about the name sounded familiar, for her expression changed to one of slight recognition.

The younger SeeD cowered at being noticed, hiding behind her computer screen and continuing to take notes on the interrogation.

"Dark Force," Nida answered for her. "They _are_, in fact, in a category of their own. They're more like parasites than something that'd benefit your powers."

"... That sounds like Azul's. I noticed... that his powers and strength would increase in battle, but his stamina would...."

"Decrease?" Nida suggested. He watched Bethe nod slowly. He then sifted through more papers attached to his clipboard. "So... now, tell me about how it affected him as a person."

Bethe shrugged. "He wasn't that much different. He was just pretty damn secretive when it came to Reaper, that's all. His death, though... he was fine that day. I think only Ciel knew what happened before we saw his dead self the next morning."

"Are you saying that the DF's affect on Azul was different from Ciel's experience?"

The redhead laughed under her breath. "Oh, hell yeah. Azul's body couldn't take it, I guess, that's why he died. I remember me and Jarek watching Ciel... draw from his body. At that point with Reaper, I guess it grew pretty strong from getting Azul's energy--"

"But as a host, he failed in letting it consume him completely," Nida added, almost cutting her off. He seemed to be getting a solid picture of the DFs' capabilities. "But Ciel was able to junction successfully without having any physical side effects, right? Especially at the stage Reaper was at?"

"Guess he was too weak. Or it was the compatibility. Dunno." Bethe clicked her tongue pensively, her voice softening further. "Actually, I think... it's different for different people. Emotionally... not just their bodies."

Everyone seemed intrigued at what the ex-REVOLUTION member was about to say; both the group of SeeDs outside of the room and the pair of SeeDs inside with her. Emotion and Dark Forces was still a weak part of Odine's research. Bethe's observations may be of some help to the scientist.

"Go on," Nida urged.

Bethe sighed. "Think of this: Azul was secretive, but he never held grudges or hid emotions like that. Other than being a rebel like I was, he was a good guy. There were times I doubted that he deserved to be part of the cause. He was almost _too_ nice. Wore his heart on his sleeve, especially with Ciel,--"

("That's bullshit," Seifer muttered from the other side.

"I'm inclined to agree..." Squall replied, nodding slightly.

"You guys actually agreed on something?" Quistis remarked in an amazed tone.)

"--who had a lot of emotional baggage, I guess. You could tell from her eyes, but she never said anything. And being as stubborn as most of us in the faction were, no one else said anything, either. I think the emotions she kept, the grudges, and whatever else she hid, it helps feed the DF."

"Hold on," spoke up Nida. "I'm not really sure how this is connected to--"

"Here's an analogy for you, then. Ultimecia fucked up time and confused the past and present mixed them all together, right? Well these things we junctioned did the same thing, but with our memories, feelings, and thoughts; our desires and dislikes."

Nida pursed his lips together. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at window, hoping the other SeeDs were filled in.

(Squall rubbed his chin, not really looking at either of his companions. "I hope she isn't lying to us."

Quistis sighed. "I doubt it. If she really hated us, she would have stayed silent instead of wasting her time talking to us." She tilted her head, observing the scarlet-haired woman. "She seems incredibly observant of people."

"What makes you say that?" asked Seifer, who was leaning against the window in slight boredom.

"The way she looks at us whenever we're around. It's as if she was examining us... our mannerisms and our every move. Call it being suspicious of us, maybe."

"Well, she is pretty much our captive," the trenchcoated one commented flatly. "Why wouldn't she be?"

"Yeah, but I'm saying that's how she was able to observe her former comrades the way she did," Quistis concluded.

Squall restrained himself from rolling his eyes at Quistis. There she went again, thinking she knew everybody based on her own assumptions.)

"... Okay, one more question, and you're off the hook for now," Nida told Bethe.

"What now?" She was getting restless.

"Did you know of anyone else with DFs?"

She paused to think it over, and then... "Jarek. He had one. I think he called it Lucifer. He told me later--" Before she continued, she lowered her head. "--that he killed a SeeD with it and his machine gun in Balamb. I even saw his handiwork. More macabre than anything the darkest GF could do."

(Quistis suddenly paled. She knew that Bethe was referring to Xu.

"Quis?" Seifer called quietly, noticing the change in her palor.

_(No,)_ she thought, choosing to ignore her subordinate. She had to keep calm and professional. She re-gathered herself and continued to listen to what was coming through the speaker.)

"No way," Alethea piped up, apparently shocked. She stared incredulously at Bethe, her timidness forgotten for the moment. "Lucifer... we learned that he was just a myth... part of a legend that the ancients made up to explain the history of the world--"

"Tsk. I don't know anything about that," the redhead replied, interrupting the rookie SeeD.

A short silence followed.

Nida took this moment to speak up again. "Bethe, how about you? Do you have one?"

"No. I acted like I did to be more intimidating. And before Reaper, I don't think Ciel did, either, mainly 'cause she hated junctioning anything. Didn't like the whole memory loss side effect deal. She usually tried to get through fights without junctioning a GF."

"Anyone else?"

"That's all I know as far as my group goes." Bethe suddenly yawned. "Well, fuck, are we done yet? You said one more. You gave me like, three."

"Right," Nida agreed, checking the time on his watch. "I think we've been at it long enough. Thank you for your time." He turned to his subordinate shadow, who was closing up the laptop and standing up. Together, they exited the room and into the next one, where all the SeeDs were reunited.

"Well?" Nida asked them.

"I just wonder... how Rinoa will fare in all of this," Quistis quipped softly. "Especially since she's the sorceress."

Just as the instructor mentioned the raven-haired girl's name, the door swung open, revealing an out-of-breath Zell (with Laguna close behind) rushing in urgently.

Everyone snapped their attention to the newcomers, wondering why they both looked so flustered.

Squall furrowed his brow at them suspiciously. Zell was supposed to have brought Rinoa with him, not Laguna... and from the expressions on their faces, he could only guess something went wrong. "Zell? Where's--"

"Rinoa fainted," Zell blurted out, looking worried. "In her room. We brought her to the Infirmary so Kadowaki could look at her."

"What do you mean fainted?" Seifer questioned, narrowing his eyes at Zell with scrutiny. "From what?"

"From what do you think?" the martial artist replied in an almost snappish manner. "From fuckin' Hecate."

There was a tension-filled silence until Squall suddenly reacted.

"Shit," he murmured. Then, without any warning to the others, he bolted out of there and toward the elevator to get to 1F.

"Hyne... I hope everything's okay," Quistis muttered as she followed suit, with Laguna and Seifer in tow.

The ones left in the room were Zell, Nida, and Alethea. Zell, after calming down some, turned to Nida, noticing the clipboard in his hands and the laptop in Alethea's. "What's been going on?"

Nida, knowing how close he was to Rinoa, opened his mouth to inquire why he hadn't followed the others out, but instead, chose to mind his own business for the moment and answer his question. "Bethe agreed to be questioned." He gave him a small smile. "And she provided us with more useful information than we bargained for."

"That's good," Zell responded, rubbing the back of his neck. He tried to smile, but it was obviously forced.

"Maybe you should go see what Kadowaki has to say about Rinoa," Nida said lightly, breaking the long silence after the blond's words.

Zell scoffed. "Tch, nah. I'm worried enough as it is." He turned away nonchalantly, facing the window and watching as Bethe boredly stared at her lap in her cell.

"Can I ask why?"

"Nida," Zell sighed, exasperated. He didn't really want to _talk_ talk to anyone; he actually preferred _now_ for people see him as no more than a Chickenwuss and a joker. At least they didn't pry. They kept a distance. Zell just didn't want to think about the Rinoa situation too much, although it wouldn't go away. He was hard on himself about it, and what happened to her just now went back to how he blamed himself for not seeing earlier that Hecate was bad news. He was afraid of seeing Rinoa... afraid that when he did, he would think about what he could have done to prevent it, but didn't because of his stupidity and cluelessness.

But that was only one out of many regrets.

"Um, Nida...." Alethea piped up after clearing her throat. "I have a SeeD ranking exam soon..."

The dark-haired SeeD blinked, suddenly remembering. "Oh, yeah... just hand me the laptop. I want to look over your notes."

She gave him the computer promptly and hustled out of the room, leaving the two males. As soon as the door shut behind her, Nida started to walk past Zell slowly. "I'm leaving, too," he said. He tapped the surface of the laptop with one of the fingers hold onto it. "Gotta look at this stuff."

Zell shrugged. "Sure. I'll just chill here for a while. Maybe go to Balamb today."

Nida almost laughed. Chill with a grumpy-as-hell female criminal on the other side of the wall? "Heh, good luck with that."

He left.

Zell felt relieved at being alone. Noticing the table and a few chairs in the room, he plopped down in the one adjacent to the viewing window. Ruffling his hair, he exhaled slowly. Rinoa's collapse was playing over and over in his head. Was he really that shocked? Knowing about Hecate, he shouldn't have been surprised.

_(Well, fuck this.)_ Zell decided he should go to the Training Center instead. Maybe that would distract him. Didn't Squall and Seifer like to do that, too? He hoped he wasn't turning into them. Or maybe going to that psychologist the Headmaster hired was a good idea after all...

He paused before leaving. Well, whatever he did, he knew it probably wouldn't save Rinoa from her eventual... demise.

_(Such a shitty word.)_

But it was true, wasn't it? Unless there was some information he was missing, he remembered Odine saying that there was no hope for people with DFs. They die. The words rang in his ears. He didn't want the same thing to happen to her, but... what else could he do? He was hopeless.

_(Rinoa... I'm sorry.)_

* * *

Squall watched his ex-girlfriend as her chest steadily rose and fell, her breaths shallow as if in slumber. It felt like deja vu. He remembered when she was in the same condition the year before, only at the time, it had to do with something a little simpler to understand. However, with so little research done despite all of Odine's effort, the current situation was a lot more difficult and complex.

Kadowaki informed him and the others who had followed him that Rinoa was in a coma. The doctor was unable to find a cause for it. Then again, she was as informed of Dark Forces as the student body of Garden, which was very little. But before Squall could wonder why Headmaster failed to inform faculty such as Kadowaki about it, Quistis' voice killed the silence.

"This seems like an appropriate time to tell us what you know, Squall," the blonde instructor said in a serious tone. She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, looking at Rinoa's comatose form with a frown.

Squall sighed and proceeded to tell Quistis, Seifer, and Laguna (Kadowaki had stepped out of the room for the moment) about Rinoa briefly becoming Hecate and the information she gave him, including the continuum analogy she used and the usage of the word "knight" that would have had plenty of significance in the previous year.

"So then you went to Odine?" Seifer questioned.

"Right," the commander replied.

"What'd he say?"

"Nothing new. He basically told me what Bethe told Nida in the quarantine room." Squall shook his head. "Dawning and Maestoso were normal people, though. Who knows what would happen with a sorceress?"

"So much research to be done," Laguna spoke up pessimistically, sitting at a stool by the raven-haired girl's bed. "And there's so little time left before she's consumed... and probably dead."

Squall noticed that Quistis started to slowly pace around the room, seemingly deep in her thoughts. He raised an eyebrow at her. Was she figuring something out?

Seifer noticed as well. "Penny for your thoughts, Quisty?" he asked her.

She stopped mid-step. "I was just thinking... how much more does Bethe know? Is it just coincidence that two of her faction members both had DFs? She also implied that there were more members of that group, possibly tougher--"

"I don't know, Quis..." Seifer interjected, his voice trailing off. "Maybe it's coincide--"

"No," she interjected. "Rhiannon can't know that much about DFs with only seeing two cases of it. She's not telling us all she knows yet."

"It didn't seem like she knew much about Guthrie's," Squall noted quietly. "She just saw his 'handiwork' or whatever."

"Exactly," said Quistis. "So that makes it more suspicious. I say we question her one more time. Maybe she'll tell us where more people in her rebellion are." She looked at the rest of her companions in the room. "And then, maybe from there... we can figure out what is up with Rinoa. And if we inform Odine, it's possible he'll know how to end this whole fiasco without killing her."

Seifer tsked thoughtfully. "Sounds like a plan. Doesn't sound easy, though."

"Well, welcome to SeeD," the instructor remarked humorously. She smirked. "Things will only get harder from here."

Feeling left out, Laguna stood up from his position. Throughout the teenagers' conversation, he had been thinking. And his theory isn't a scientific nor a scholarly one; it was a simple-minded inquiry at best. "Hey..."

Squall sighed and turned to his father, wondering why he was at Garden in the first place. "What, Dad?"

Laguna's heart leaped. _(He called me Dad again!)_ But this was not the time to rejoice and glomp his son. He cleared his throat and proceeded. "This doesn't really have to do with anything... but do you think it's possible that a person with the DF could... I don't know, give off some of its... power to those around him or her? I mean, without even doing anything. Like its aura does something to you?"

He watched as Squall averted his eyes. Was there something about what he said that got to the young commander? Did it have to do with Selphie? Himself? Or something else?

"You mean, it wouldn't only affect Rinoa, but everyone around her?" Quistis confirmed, tapping her finger against her cheek. "People without DFs themselves?"

"That would mean there would be a little something wrong with everyone," Seifer theorized, narrowing his eyes in thought. "And... as far as I can tell, in the light of all the shit happening around here, we're pretty much normal." He glanced at Squall. "What do you think, Commando?"

The brunet turned away from the rest of them. He was quiet for a long time. Laguna looked at Seifer and Quistis, who looked back puzzledly. What _was_ Squall thinking? "No harm in trying to look into it," he finally answered.

The Estharian president blinked. So maybe his thoughts about DFs weren't _too_ out there. "R-Really?"

The two blonds had nearly the same reaction as the older man. "If that's the case," Quistis started, still uncertain about the plausibility of Laguna's claim, "then I will inform Nida and the research team about possibly looking into it."

"Don't get me wrong," Squall added slowly, taking a few steps toward Rinoa's bed. "The idea may seem stupid, but look at what has already happened... at what has already defied any of our logic as SeeDs and GF users. Like summons that hold on to us like parasites, unexplained visions of killing people you love--"

"Wait a minute," Seifer suddenly cut in, holding a hand up to silence Squall. "What the fuck was the last thing you said?"

Again, Laguna blinked, not expecting those kinds of words to come out of his son's mouth. _(Visions of killing people you love?)_ He started speculating circumstances surrounding that. Maybe it related to Selphie somehow... _(But would that explain why she was talking to so-called Irvine?)_

"....." was Squall's response.

"You were hiding something all this time," Quistis concluded, narrowing her eyes at him. "You're no better than Rinoa keeping her secret to herself." She sounded angry, and Laguna couldn't blame her, although he himself wasn't angry at Squall (how could he be angry at his wonderful only son?), just concerned.

"Yeah, why aren't you telling us everything?!" the trenchcoated boy practically yelled, coming up to the commander until he was sputtering in his face. "The hell?! Don't tell me you're gonna end up like her, too! WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Squall turned his head to the side and took a step backward. Seifer lost his temper way too easily. "I didn't think this had to do with DFs at the time," the commander explained. "And... I thought they would go away."

Quistis sighed, throwing her hands up in frustration. "I hope this was one of the things you said you were going to tell us when we were in the other room."

"It is..."

"Go away?!" Seifer cried. He pointed at Squall in the chest, giving him an unnecessarily hard poke in the sternum. "You should listen to yourself, Puberty Boy. Things that defied our logic as SeeDs and GF users?! This is exactly--"

The commander was quickly losing patience. "I know!" Squall yelled back, glaring at him. "But what do you think would happen if this came out?! Do you think it'd easy?!"

"Hey--" Laguna tried to say, hoping to calm the two down.

"I don't know! Why don't you ask Rinoa!" At saying her name, Seifer gestured harshly toward the unconscious sorceress.

"Both of you!" Quistis interjected over both of the males' voices. "Lower your voices. We're not going to get anywhere if you continue to yell."

Both gunblade users turned silent, giving each other irate glares.

The instructor sighed heavily. "Squall... tell us exactly what has been happening with you."

Reluctantly, Squall began telling her, Seifer, and his father about his visions, starting from when they first appeared at the time of the Garden Festival. He mentioned its increasing violence, strength, and most recently, his mini-black out.

Quistis shook her head at him after he was finished. "Squall... you should have mentioned this earlier. Now you're going to have to go through the same things Rinoa has gone through." She shifted her gaze toward Laguna. "Mr. Loire."

"Hm?" Laguna's head perked up, slightly surprise at getting attention again.

"What has been talked about here... tell Dr. Odine when you get back to Esthar. He'll definitely need to know."

He smiled uneasily, scratching the back of his head. Boy, Quistis really looked scary at that moment... and her anger wasn't even aimed at him. "Yeah, of course."

She nodded. "Thank you." She glanced at her watch and then started walking toward the door. "I'll need to tell Nida about this development. Come, Seifer." She eyed Squall. "Expect a call from me sometime later." She quickly left.

Seifer moved from he was standing and started to follow her out. But before he did, he gave Squall one last look. It was one of wariness. "Tell me something," he began. "Is that why you've been having problems with Selphie lately?"

The commander didn't answer for a while. Instead of doing so, he sighed exasperatedly and stared at the edge of Rinoa's bed as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world.

Seifer didn't wait for an answer, either. He only grumbled vehemently under his breath as he exited the Infirmary in a huff.

Laguna was the only one still left in the room. The silence between them was awkward, but the president wasn't about to leave the room like Seifer and Quistis did.

"Heya... Son?" he spoke up in a hopeful manner, watching as Squall moved to sit in the same stool the older man had been in earlier.

The Lion leaned over to rest his elbows on his lap, rubbing his temples wearily. "I don't feel like talking," he replied quietly.

"I can tell, but listen--"

"If you want to know the answer to what Almasy asked, it's none of your business," Squall said firmly. "Why would you care, anyway?"

Laguna decided that he didn't want to stress him out further by telling him about his girlfriend talking to herself... "Because... I'm worried about my boy."

The silence between them couldn't be more uncomfortable.

"Don't," Squall muttered emotionlessly. "I can take care of myself." Without turning, he asked, "Can I be alone, please?"

The raven-haired man felt bad for him and agreed to do so. Nodding, he replied with, "Yeah, yeah, of course. Um... good seeing you."

As he left the Infirmary, he decided that he was going to do a little meddling in Squall's relationship. It was probably a bad idea, but his son and Selphie seemed so happy together, and he didn't want the two of them to fall apart this way. Especially with all the events up to now.

* * *

Fortunately for Laguna, he spotted Selphie coming out of the dorm area just as he was heading toward them. He raised a hand in greeting. "Hey! Selphie!"

She regarded him in slight surprise and waved at him excitedly.

_(In character enough...)_ he thought.

"Sir Laguna!" she exclaimed curiously. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, uh... just to say hi."

She realized that he was there to visit Squall. Her enthusiasm died down a bit. "Oh..."

"Actually..." _(Leg cramp!)_ Laguna's voice trailed off, hesitant about what he was doing. "Let's talk." He knew it sounded weird coming out of his mouth, but he just hoped that Selphie didn't assume anything odd about him because of it.

To his relief, Selphie beamed. "Sounds awesome! I was about to head to the Cafeteria for a late dinner. Wanna come?"

"Sure."

So he followed Selphie (leg cramp and all) to the dining room, where she ordered two hot dogs; one for him and one for herself. The two of them sat in a corner table, where there was less background noise.

Laguna peeked down at his hot dog, wondering why it was particularly special at Garden. It looked tasty, but it didn't look any more special than any other hot dog anywhere else...

"So, what did you wanna tell me?" Selphie spoke up, taking a sip out of her soda.

He had trouble diving into the topic without coming off too hard, but there was no way around it. "Well," he started uncertainly, "I was looking for Squall, but as I was doing that, I found your room. I tried to knock on your door earlier today, but you didn't answer..."

She pouted. "Really? Sorry about that. I guess I didn't hear you. Or I wasn't there."

He shook his head. "No... you were there."

She paused in mid-chew. "Hm... well, we're here now, so that's no problem, right?" She swallowed and grinned at him merrily.

Laguna gave her a strange look. He started to notice that Selphie was beginning to act a little _too_ happy. Not that she was normally an optimistic person, but according to everyone else who had seen her, she had been a lot less so due to Irvine's death. And yet, here she was, acting as it she was little Miss Sunshine again... but this time, even a supposed "moron" Like Laguna could tell there was some acting involved.

"Yeah..." he replied. "But the thing is..." Time to drop the bomb. "I heard you in there, calling someone Irvy."

Selphie noticeably froze up, dropping her hot dog on her plate. Nonetheless, she kept her act going. The Trabian relaxed her shoulders and laughed. "What? You must be hearing things--"

"I'm positive about it," he interrupted, looking down at his untouched food. After giving himself a second of thought on what to say next, he turned his eyes back to her. "Who were you talking to?"

She shrugged, acting nonchalant. "I could've been on the phone..."

"With Irvine?"

"..."

"Selphie..." he looked at her in the eye. He was becoming serious. No matter if he was prying or not... this was for her own good. "Come on! For someone who's as devastated as you are about his death, I know you wouldn't go around calling people Irvine if they weren't."

She opened her mouth to protest, but Laguna went on. "And I'm sure you wouldn't be talking to a picture or something, like some would. You were laughing and gossiping as if he was there with you."

Selphie's expression was starting to look like one of annoyance. "Stop..." she said in a low voice. Her eyes were becoming glassy, but Laguna, who was naturally a very nice guy, forced himself not to backtrack.

"Selphie," he went on. "What are you doing? Irvine is dead."

"No."

"Yes."

She had to keep herself from shooting out of her seat in anger. "But I can see him! He's here with me! Right now!" she blurted out. Realizing that she said those words without considering them, she pursed her lips together and bowed her head.

Laguna could only gape at her. "You can... see him?" he repeated as if learning a foreign phrase for the first time. He realized that her psychological state _really_ wasn't fully in check. "That's not possible."

"I can see him," she replied simply, as if it was a normal thing to say.

He frowned at her and sighed, starting to get the slightest bit impatient. He changed the subject. "Anyway, um... how are things with my boy?"

"... You mean Squall?" She seemed to regard him too dismissively for the commander's father's taste, but he waited for her to finish. "Don't know. I guess I've been busy lately."

"Probably because you're too obsessed with the man conquering your imagination," Laguna remarked rather bluntly, which was unlike him, but he didn't enjoy the way Selphie was acknowledging his wonderful son.

"Imagination?" she echoed in a disagreeing tone. "Then how come I can hear his voice, feel his hand when he pats me on the head, and see that smile on his face?" A tear escaped and slid down her cheek. "It's real..."

"It's not. You're just..." He struggled for any words that might sound correct, but couldn't find any. "I don't know. Your grief is doing some pretty nasty things to your mental state, and it's destroying you." Laguna had never seen Selphie as the type who would seriously need psychological help, so it was odd that she would be experiencing something she firmly believed was real when it wasn't.

She finally looked at him, not knowing what to say.

Laguna leaned forward, offering an apologetic smile. "Sorry if I come off too mean," he said softly. "It's just upsetting, as Squall's dad, to hear you depend on Irvine's memories rather than Squall himself when he's right in front of you."

Something about what he said seemed to have an effect on Selphie, for her face fell. Still, she was a stubborn one, choosing to defend her actions and the validity of them. "Irvy... wasn't the one who had visions of killing me--"

He raised an eyebrow at recognition of that fact.

"--or was randomly cold toward me when he was in a bad mood..." Selphie bit her lip to keep her chin from quivering. "Irvy's my best friend... the best in the whole world. I could tell him anything and he wouldn't judge me for it. I know he was a big flirt and stuff, but... deep down inside, I know he feels the same way about me. I... love that."

_I... love that. _The statement startled Laguna somewhat. Did she mean...?

"You loved... Irvine?" he asked carefully.

She paused before answering, as if considering it. "Yeah... I do."

Present tense. Not good. "And Squall?"

"I love him, too..."

She wasn't making sense. "Okay..." he commented hesitantly.

Luckily, Selphie elaborated before he needed to ask. "There's something about Squall that made me fall for him. I'm in love with him, I guess... but if I had to do everything over, I would've chosen Irvy."

"You know it's too late now," Laguna told her. If only Kiros and Ward were there to see how smart he was talking. Their jaws would have dropped to the floor at the president's knowledge of love. "Right? Did Irvine ever express feelings for you?"

"Right after I was already dating Squall..."

"... So did you have a chance to go back to Irvine?"

Selphie shrugged, feeling uncomfortable about the serious talk. "Yeah, but I was so happy about being with Squall, that I didn't care anymore."

_(So she doesn't even know what she wants...)_ Laguna thought. _(She tells me she loves Irvine, but once her relationship with Squall developed, he was out of the picture.)_ He tried to relate her predicament with what he himself went through with Julia and Raine, but he didn't know where to start. So instead, he asked her some more questions.

"So... what made you decide that you loved Irvine over Squall?"

Selphie sighed. "Sir Laguna, I don't--"

"I know, I'm meddling into you and Squall's business," the dark-haired man muttered guiltily. "But... I've been through what you're going through right now. I know you remember the names Julia and Raine? From when Ellone used her powers on you guys?"

She nodded reluctantly.

"Well, as an expert on the subject, I have to help you out," he concluded jokingly. "You think so?"

She giggled in a fake manner. "You're... being too much, Sir Laguna..." She blinked back the glassiness in her eyes, which looked confused and uncertain as they averted away from the man in front of her.

He gazed at her with a grim smile. Maybe he was wrong in prying into her business. He was so sure, though, that underneath her guilt, sadness, and pain, she was partial to his son when it came to love. But he guessed that it was up to the couple themselves what they were going to do about their stalemate. "Well, if I'm being too much, I guess I should go," he said lightly. He pushed his chair back and began to stand up.

Selphie didn't protest. She gave him a nod of goodbye. Smiling, he patted her on the head and left the cafeteria, leaving the nunchaku specialist to mull over her thoughts.

Laguna stopped in front of the cafeteria, looking up at the vast space and beauty of Garden. It was certainly time to leave. He remembered Quistis' request to talk to Odine, and he was not going to let her or Balamb Garden down.

* * *

In the duration of the time from Squall and the others first arriving in the infirmary to the time Laguna left Selphie in the cafeteria, Zell was in a 2F room, the newly arranged therapist's office, getting an assessment done by Dr. Alek Waverly. Zell had never done something like this before, but keeping his secrets in was taking its toll on him. He needed to blurt them out somehow and have someone help him solve his problems. He didn't want to tell his Ma... she was worried enough as it is with him being an active SeeD at a time like this.

Zell wasn't as stupid and dull as everyone thought he was. He was gullible and impulsive, but he knew when to be smart and aware. This time was one of them. He wanted an objective view on his problems.

So the solution? Visit the new psychologist from Esthar and hope it'll help.

After the basics of the assessment had been asked, Dr. Waverly, a roughly handsome middle-aged man with dark brown hair, looked up from his notepad to peer at his new patient. "So, Zell... can you tell me what you're here for? What is the basic problem we are going to tackle?"

Zell, who was sitting across from the therapist, shifted around in his seat uncomfortably as he unwillingly answered. "Myself."

"What about yourself?"

".... Everything, I guess," he chuckled, staring at his hands on his lap. "Man, I mean, after everything that's happened this year, I can't find any, I dunno, reason to like myself. I think of myself as a piece of--" He stopped himself before accidentally cursing in front of the doctor. "-- I think of myself as a complete... idiot."

Waverly jotted a few things down. "And what is everything that happened this year?"

".... Rejecting people." Zell knew that came out stupid, but that was the starting point. "I killed a friendship with Brie, who's now dead, after she confessed to me on a date. I rejected a good friend of mine and ended up straining our friendship after. I can see it when she closes herself off from me and doesn't tell me sh--crap about anything wrong with her." Knowing that he was about to lose his temper, he took a moment to collect himself again, heaving a long sigh and relaxing in his chair.

"Is that all?" Waverly asked him patiently.

The martial artist moved around in his seat again, clearly not comfortable with sitting in one place for a long period of time. "No," he replied softly. "There was like, a mission I had with Quistis, Selphie, Xu, and Squall in Balamb..." Zell struggled at the memory. "Selphie, Squall, and Xu were assigned at other parts of town, while me and Quis stayed by the train station. We were keeping our eyes on these politician guys. And... all of a sudden, some person in a trenchcoat and hat just like... pushed them real hard into the tracks just as a train came."

Zell shook his head. "Blood everywhere... and hell... all I did was stand there and watch it happen." He cautiously looked up at Waverly, who was again writing notes down. "SeeDs, to me, are s'posed to be heroes, you know," the blond went on. "But... I totally wasn't one that day. I'm still not. I'm useless. I don't think I'm even treated seriously, since all I am to everyone else is the chickenwuss."

He was quiet for a while, so Waverly took this time to chime in with his thoughts. "Well... it just seems like you're very hard on yourself--"

"Tch, yeah," Zell interrupted. "Man, I always feel like I'm just standing around while I could be, I don't know, saving people. I feel hopeless... helpless... whatever. But whatever the word is, that's me." He curled his hands into fists. "It pisses me off to no end. Why was I standing there when Irvine and Brie got killed at the exam? Why did I just stand there when Rinoa junctioned Hecate? Why can't I do anything? I mean... Hyne! It's making me go crazy and I can't do this shit by myself!"

"Zell," Waverly called to him, seeing that the boy was starting to go off into his own little world.

He snapped out of it and calmed himself down, taking deep breaths to battle his short temper. "Sorry..." he mumbled.

Waverly only grinned. "Don't be." He glanced down at some notes and turned back to Zell. "From what you've been telling me, it seems like you blame yourself from not being able to save others, no matter what the circumstances are."

"I guess that sounds right."

Waverly looked like he wanted to say something else, but held off and in its stead, asked him another question. "Tell me about your relationship with the two girls you mentioned, starting with... Brie, was it?"

"Yeah," Zell responded, his tone a little sadder. He started informing the therapist everything about Brie. He cringed inwardly as he re-told the events of their first and only date gone awry and smiled sadly as he recalled his experiences with Rinoa, including first learning about Hecate being a DF and her eventual collapse.

"I wouldn't blame you for what happened to Rinoa," Waverly said gently after the SeeD finished his story. "This Hecate wasn't something you could have possibly known everything about..."

Zell looked away. "Yeah, but--"

"You were her support for the pre-requisite," the therapist finished for him with a small grin. "Yes, that does require quite a bit of responsibility, but like I said, with so little information available about her, it would be idiotic to blame you or Rinoa. Even if she did feel a little ill right afterward... according to DF knowledge, there was no way to reverse it."

"But--"

"So it's nobody's fault except for perhaps Hyne's," Waverly finished. "Right, Zell?"

The martial artists didn't know what to say. "I... guess. I don't know."

"You're just hard on yourself and lack self-confidence," the doctor told him. "You want to think of yourself as a hero for people you care about, namely Rinoa and probably Brie..."

At those words, Zell lowered his head.

"... but you feel like you failed because you couldn't save them." Waverly ducked his head slightly to look for his patient's eyes. "Am I right?"

Zell knew that what he said should have been obvious, but as self-unaware as he was, he would've needed help realizing those things about himself. And for that, he was a little grateful. It didn't help as much as he would like, but it was only the first day.

So, he nodded, meeting his gaze.

Waverly glanced down at his watch and then looked at him apologetically. "Well, I hope that brought your spirits up a little bit. Baby steps and we'll get you back into shape in no time." He held up his wrist for Zell to see the time. "We're out of time, but I hope you come back next week."

Zell stood up from his chair and nodded his head at him. "I think I will," he replied. "Thanks."

_(Baby steps, huh?)_

* * *

_What made you decide that you loved Irvine over Squall?_

Even if she felt open enough to answer the question, she honestly wouldn't know how to answer it. Selphie never thought about this to that extent. Laguna actually confronted her about her feelings, and it suddenly made her feel more lost than ever.

Irvine wasn't appearing. He would usually show up when she needed him. Whenever she was in a bad mood, he would show up with a lopsided smile and a corny joke to cheer her up.

Why wasn't he there now?

_(Where are you? Irvy?)_

Selphie stared at the seat across from her, the one previously occupied by Laguna, furrowing her brows in concentration as if she could will the cowboy to appear in front of her with her mind.

_(Irvy?)_

Selphie didn't understand. Ever since the Estharian president talked to her, it seemed like she couldn't find Irvine anymore.

_(Irvy??)_

And suddenly, the logical voice inside called to her, telling her what she was hoping not to hear.

_(Stop calling for someone who's dead.)_

Stunned, Selphie froze, wondering why she would tell herself that. Okay, so maybe she wasn't the most emotionally stable person at the moment, but she was fine living in her head... at least for the moment. She was fine being delusional as long as the pain of loss didn't get to her. As long as reality wasn't hurting her, she told herself that it would be okay.

She didn't want to feel that again. Especially since it has happened more than once, first with Trabia, and then...

Her last moment with Irvine on the Ragnarok suddenly flashed through her mind.

_"You'll always be my Irvy, right?"_

_(Stop it!)_ she screamed in her mind, shaking her head furiously, as if doing so would take it away. She didn't want to go back to those times. Not now, not ever.

_"As long as you'll always be my Sefie."_

Maybe it was the room making her feel like this. Yes, that must be it. Selphie rose out of her seat, taking her trash to a nearby garbage bin. After that, she rushed out of the cafeteria.

_(You're running away.)_

Running away? Never. Selphie pursed her lips together, trying to force those thoughts out of her. She wasn't running away. She was perfectly aware of what she was doing.

_(No, you're not. You don't know what you're doing.)_

No. The brunette refused to give in to the increasingly invasive thoughts. She just wanted to live in her head for a while. Why can't she just do that? Shut out the world and be left alone?

She found herself by the fountains, her feet automatically taking her back to the dormitory area. Not far ahead of her, she saw a familiar spikey-haired blond head.

"Zelly," she murmured in acknowledgement. She doubted he heard her, but to her surprise, he stopped in his tracks and craned his neck to look at her. He seemed a little baffled at her presence.

"Haven't seen you in a while," he remarked casually. His voice was a little too un-Zell for Selphie's taste, but she didn't ask him about it, nor did she think about it further.

"Yeah..." she replied to him, feeling a little awkward.

He seemed to notice this as well and cleared his throat. "Huh, well, I'll be heading back to my room, then."

Selphie didn't want to be left alone with her thoughts again. She was having some sort of mental battle with herself, and she wanted as much distraction as possible. "I'll go with you," she piped up abruptly, catching him before he turned around again.

Zell raised his eyebrows at her for a second, perplexed, and then shrugged. "Tch, whatever you want."

So silently, the two SeeDs walked together through the halls of the dorm. Unfortunately for Selphie, though, her thoughts chose to intrude again, especially after passing by what used to be Raijin and Irvine's room.

She didn't mean to glance at it... she never did, but it was always a force of habit. It never bothered her before, but today...

_(Come back to reality, Selphie.)_

She wished it would stop.

_(He misses you.)_

Selphie sighed to herself as she and Zell continued trekking to their rooms, wondering who would miss her.

Squall?

Suddenly, her mind went back to the night she drank with Rinoa and Seifer. In her drunken state, she fuzzily remembered clinging a usually stoic man who smiled only at her.

_"Don't hate me, Squally. Don't hate me."_

The Trabian stopped in mid-step, engrossed in her memories.

_"I love you, Squally."_

_(Why am I having these thoughts?)_ she wondered, disturbed by this sudden onslaught.

"Selphie? What's up?" Zell asked her.

_(You're coming back to reality.)_

What?

_"I love you, too."_

She felt a lump in her throat. It was strange... because she didn't exactly know why it formed. Maybe it was because of Squall, but she didn't want to think about him. She didn't want to face him.

Selphie didn't want to fight anymore with herself, especially with Zell around. He would probably have more questions for her that she couldn't answer honestly.

"Selphie?" he asked again, this time putting a hand on her shoulder. "Yo."

"Ah! Sorry!" she spoke up, her voice a little too loud.

The martial artist backed away slightly. "Right." With a gloved thumb, he pointed down the hall, where it split into two. "You're down that way, right?"

"Yeah..."

He turned toward different door nearby, a somewhat sad look crossing his face. Selphie realized that they were by Rinoa's room. She wasn't sure why he seemed so sad about it, though. "Zelly?" she called softly.

He sighed. "That's right, you don't know, do you?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Well, Rinoa's at the infirmary. She's in a coma because of her DF."

Selphie frowned and cast her emerald-colored eyes to the ground. "That sounds terrible," she commented in a small voice. Now that something like this had happened, who knows--

"Who knows what'll happen now, you know?" Zell continued, as if finishing Selphie's thought. "This may be the end for her, it may not." There was a strangely shaky quality in his voice underneath the upbeat tone he tried to take.

Seeing him so down in the dumps made Selphie wonder about something. "Hey... how... do you feel about her?"

Taken aback by her question, the blond chuckled sullenly and spun on his heel toward Rinoa's door. It opened in front of him. "I don't even know anymore."

"Huh...?" she mumbled, not fully understanding what he meant. She then suddenly saw him enter Rinoa's room. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"I don't know." He didn't even turn to look at her.

Selphie stepped up to the doorway and peeped through, sticking her head curiously into the room. Zell sank down into the sorceress' couch and leaned back against it, his eyes staring blankly at the TV screen. She followed his gaze absently. As she did so, she noticed her camera still sitting on the floor next to it.

"Ah, so it's still here," she said to herself. Without much reservation, she strolled in. Rinoa wouldn't have minded too much, anyway. The nunchaku specialist squatted down in front of it. Before she disconnected the charger, she simply looked at it.

_"Hey, Rin. What's on here?"_

_"The Garden Festival stuff, probably?"_

Selphie recalled her own thoughts then. She hadn't wanted to watch any of it... because of Squall. But why would it matter to her now? Why did it matter then?

_(You felt betrayed.)_

Well, of course she did. Selphie hadn't counted on the final events of the field exam. She counted on Squall's confidence and reassurance about Irvine and his group's assignment. However... she found that the rational part of her saying that it couldn't have been helped. No matter what.

_(What am I saying?)_ Selphie wondered. _(Where is all this coming from? I... don't need to be thinking about him. I'll deal with it later.) _"I don't," she voiced, trying to assure herself. "I don't. Laguna's just getting to me. He just annoyed me--"

"Who are you talking to?" Zell spoke up from behind her. She heard the rustle of the sofa. He was probably sitting up and gaping at her oddly. Selphie could feel his sky-colored eyes on her back.

_(I'll prove to myself I don't need Squall.)_ Ignoring Zell's question, she spun around to give her friend a bright grin. "Hey, wanna watch Garden Festival footage with me?"

* * *

How long had he been sitting there, staring distractedly at his ex-girlfriend?

Squall felt like everything he has done in the past month resulted in failure. He practically killed his relationship with Selphie, got everyone upset with him, and now, a friend of his was in a coma for who knows how long.

Looking down at Rinoa, Squall started to think of the interrogation and what he said to Quistis, Seifer, and his father.

_(Are you going to turn into Hecate now?)_ he asked Rinoa silently. _(The next time you wake up... will you be completely gone?)_

There was no telling at this point. There was nothing he or anyone could do except wait.

The commander pulled himself to his feet, deciding that it was time for him to leave. He turned around, slipping his hands into his jacket pockets as he headed toward the door.

_Beautiful emerald eyes stared up at him sadly. There was so much betrayal and hurt expressed in them that anyone else would simply just drown in the emotions they gave off. Not him, though._

_"Squall!"_

_They were begging him to stop._

_He was gripping the metal handle of his gunblade so hard that he was sure blisters would form there later._

_(I'll kill you.) _

_"Squall... don't! Please! Remember me!" She had handfuls of his shirt, her tears streaming down her face._

_(I'll kill you.)_

_"Don't kill me!"_

_He mutely lifted the Armageddon. She was growing more scared and frantic by the second. He could tell, even though she put on such a brave act. It made him smile._

_He couldn't even hear whatever she was babbling about. Only one thought was running through his mind._

_(I'll kill you.)_

_And so he did. Squall stabbed Selphie point blank through the stomach. Blood spilled everywhere. It was falling to the ground, but it felt like it was all around him. The smell of it filling the air, the taste of it as drops of it splashed onto his face, and the warmth of it as it oozed over his hand, spilling onto the bare slit between his glove and the sleeve of his jacket._

_"I love you..." Those sad, pretty little eyes, which were still staring up at him, had tears falling from them, mixing in with the crimson mess she made. _

_He pulled the blade out just as violently as he had thrust it in, watching her fall forward as if in slow motion. Her tiny body hit the ground with a wet thud. With his face twisted into an evil, triumphant smile, he satisfyingly watched the emotion in her eyes disappear, becoming blank._

_Dead._

_(NO! NOOO!!)_

"Sefie!" he shouted, panting. Realizing what had happened and where he was, he quickly looked down at his hands, wondering if there was any blood on them. Of course, there was none, but he did have a heavy sweat and clammy, shaky hands. He was also incredibly exhausted for some reason. He had a big urge to just lie down and sleep.

The vision felt a lot more real this time around. So real, that for a minute, he felt very scared for Selphie's well-being.

Squall lifted his head cautiously. To his astonishment, he found that the room had been ransacked. There wasn't much in the room to begin with, but he saw that there were numerous cracks in the viewing window (the one where Ellone had seen him from before). There were a few dents and cracks in the wall. The small bookshelf that sat against the wall opposite the bed seemed to have been pushed over, so now it was lying on its side with books messily strewn everywhere. He also noticed that the large hanging light above him was swinging quickly back and forth.

One thing that was odd, though, was that Rinoa's form was still in its rightful place. He hadn't laid a finger on her and took his violence out on everything else, it seemed.

_(The hell...)_

Squall found himself hating this more and more. Why won't it stop? What do they want from him? Or rather... what does _she_ want from him? He briefly pondered that idea and then turned to the bed.

_(Hecate,)_ he thought angrily, staring hard at Rinoa's face, _(Was it you?)_

* * *

"... What?" Zell dropped his jaw a little. ".... Whaaat? Why are you being so fucking random?"

"Hey, you _randomly_ came into Rinoa's room first."

"Tch, I had a reason."

"A reason? Well, what makes you think I don't, hm?" Seeing that the hot dog lover wasn't going to relent, she pouted at him pleadingly.

He sneered at her and picked up a throw pillow from the end of the couch. With it, he threw it at her. Selphie made a yelp as it hit her in the face and then fell unceremoniously at her feet.

"Stop it," he scolded.

"Ow..." she whimpered, rubbing her nose. Her pout deepened as she glared at Zell. "Stop what?"

"Acting cutesy," he retorted.

Her expression lightened up at his words. She stuck her tongue out him sweetly. "It works, doesn't it?"

Zell rolled his eyes and lifted his arms to rest them on the back of the couch. Selphie took that as a hint that she won. The cord that connected the camcorder to the TV was conveniently lying nearby. After she set everything up, she turned on both the camera and the TV and sat herself right next to him.

The first part of the tape was in Seifer's point of view, which was made known when the camera turned briefly to face its recorder. Seifer made a few funny faces at it and then swung it around to face Rinoa.

_"Hey!" Rinoa said to the camcorder, holding her hand up in greeting. She giggled and beckoned the tall blond teen to follow her. "Let's go to the Quad now. I wanna catch the pre-party."_

Selphie glanced at Zell out of the corner of her eye, watching his reaction to seeing a lively Rinoa on the screen. So far, he hasn't done anything but stare intently at the screen. She couldn't tell how he was feeling, not even in his eyes.

_(He's changed...)_ she observed, feeling a little dismal. Zell used to wear his emotions on his sleeve.

_"How the hell do you zoom in?" Seifer questioned. He started fiddling with the buttons and other features, causing the footage to become shaky and fast. The camera was pointing at Rinoa's feet, which came into view shortly after he spoke. All of a sudden, the hallway carpet, Rinoa's shoes, and the end of her duster went from colored to black-and-white, to sepia-colored, to nightvision, and finally back to color. All happening whilst Seifer and Rinoa argued over who was a newb and who wasn't._

_After more shakes and swings, Seifer tilted the camera back up to the raven-haired girl. "Ready?" Rinoa asked Seifer, her tone impatient. She must've really wanted to go to the festival._

_"Yeah, yeah," he sighed. "Let's go." As they walked out of the dorm area, Seifer switched the view to himself as he whispered to it laughingly, "Rin's meaner than usual, and I bet everyone knows why."_

_"I can hear you!" Rinoa snapped from offscreen._

_He grinned devilishly at his viewers. "I think I pissed her off." He moved the view back to his companion, who was glaring at him in annoyance. Without another word, she started walking again, with a snickering gunblade user at her tail._

_The camera stayed on Rinoa's back as they reached their destination. One or two cuts later, the holder of the camcorder switched, and now it was in Rinoa's possession. They were in the beautifully decorated Quad, with students and other people hustling and bustling around. The camera panned the entire festival area, an establishing shot._

_The scene cut off. The next segment showed Quistis self-consciously putting a hand up to block herself from the camcorder's view. "Save it, Rin. I prefer you film the play, not me."_

_With a laugh, Rinoa zoomed in on the instructor's face, which reddened as Seifer teasingly got behind her to force her arms down. Followed by the embarrassment of Quistis was the sorceress' brief conversation with Raijin._

And finally....

_"Squall!" Rinoa called in a sing-song voice, the camera tightening on him._

Selphie felt her heart beat painfully against her chest. Her vibrant, green orbs stayed on the screen as she watched her estranged boyfriend glare characteristically at the camera and sit down in one of the audience chairs.

_(Why does he make it hurt so much?)_ she asked herself. That damned lump in her throat returned again, and she knew that tears were making their way to her eyes. Her heart hurt more than ever as suppressed feelings came back to surface after hiding in her illusions for so long. _(Squall...)_

Through blurred vision, her hand shot out, grabbing what she recognized as the remote control for her camera (meaning Rinoa had probably seen this footage already). She immediately started fast-forwarding through the tape, speeding through the performance of the musical.

Zell grabbed her wrist, the same one that was tremulously gripping the controller. "What're you doing?" he asked quietly.

"J-Just... we d-don't need to see--" she stammered, unable to finish her sentence.

Zell leaned forward, tilting his head to look at her face. "Selph..." he began, not knowing what to say to her expression. He took the remote out of her hands. She didn't fight for it, instead, bowing her head down to stare at her lap. "Baby steps."

_(Baby steps?)_

The blond hit the PLAY button again, conveniently, at a segment unfortunate for Selphie in her current mood.

_From a small distance, with some sort of plant hanging down from the top of the screen, were Squall and a costumed Selphie, who were facing each other lovingly. "Really?! Thank you!" she giggled excitedly._

Selphie couldn't even bring herself to look on the screen. She didn't want to hear anymore, either, but felt too shaky and weak to swipe the remote back from Zell. She hugged herself, tears slowly making their way down her face.

_"What's up, Squall?"_

She felt Zell shift in his seat. She wondered if he was considering turning the camera off for her sake, but in the end, he didn't do anything.

_"I want to tell you something." Squall said to her softly._

_"Okay! What is it?"_

_"Um..."_

The cheerfulness in her voice sounded unfamiliar. A part of Selphie wished for that part of her back. Sure, she was acting optimistic nowadays, but the thing was, it was still acting. The Selphie appearing on tape wasn't. Her words and enthusiasm came from her heart and mind.

She missed that.

_"Okay... since you're being so slow, I think I'll go ahead and PARTY while you sit there thinking of what you need to tell me."_

_"I love you."_

_"I love you, too!!"_

At the final pieces of dialogue, Selphie rose her head to the screen, staring at it in disbelief as she watched herself jump into Squall's arms.

From the footage, she realized something. His feelings for her had never wavered. She suddenly remembered the way he gazed at her, the feeling of his body against hers, the happiness she felt when he uttered those three words...

_I love you._

It only made her cry harder. Letting out a loud sob, she covered her face with her hands while the tape continued to roll. The words were repeating themselves incessantly in her mind, and it made her feel horrible.

Zell's hand came down gently on her head, patting it soothingly. He didn't say anything to comfort her at first, but after a while, he cleared his throat. "Hey, uh, last I saw him was at the infirmary," he muttered, hinting at her gently.

Unable to talk, she hiccuped and nodded. _(I guess I can't keep this up anymore...) _She slowly rose from her seat with a new resolve.

"I'll be here for a while, I guess..." he continued mysteriously. "Don't worry about your camera. I'll give it back to you later."

She nodded again, her head full of new thoughts. Thoughts of Squall.

_"I realized last night that Squall was doing only what he thought was right..."_

What she had said to Seifer that one morning rang in her head like an alarm, waking her up from her fantasies. She didn't know why it all of a sudden came to her, but it made her long for her boyfriend more than ever.

_(Squall...)_

Tears still in her eyes, she sped out of Rinoa's room without saying goodbye.

* * *

Squall made sure to clean all the mess up as quickly as possible. Nothing could be out of place. The window fortunately had a curtain, so that was drawn to cover up the window. It could only last for so long, but it would have to do. The damage to the walls couldn't be helped, so Squall left them alone.

Placing the last book on the bookshelf, he sighed tiredly and slid back onto the stool. He heard the main door of the infirmary hiss open. Kadowaki must've come back. He had finished just in time. Under normal circumstances, he would have come up to her with some excuses for the room, but he was too drained to do so. Whatever he did during his vision surely took most of the energy out of him. He didn't even feel like walking back to his room. He'll leave later...

Without really thinking, Squall leaned forward and laid his head on the bed for a much-needed rest.

* * *

_"Sweetie?"_

Her heart lurched as she ran out of the dormitory. He bothered to call her such a endearing nickname when all she did was blame him and confuse the both of them. She hurt him as much as he had hurt her. The difference between them was... he apologized and she didn't. Instead, she pushed him even further away.

_(I'm sorry, Squall!) _Selphie yelled in her mind, thinking that he could somehow hear her thoughts. She let herself cry again. _(I'm so sorry....)_

_"I said mean things to you. I don't mean any of it!"_ she remembered saying in her drunken state. _"I don't love him. Not like I love you."_

She stopped running when she reached the outside of the infirmary. She doubled over to catch her breath and then hesitantly walked in when the door slid open.

Dr. Kadowaki, who looked busy at her desk with paperwork, greeted her briefly with a nod of her head. She seemed too busy to even notice the tearstains on the brunette's face, but it didn't matter.

Selphie wasted no time in rushing to the back room where she imagined Rinoa would be kept. Finding the door to it slightly ajar, she pushed it open slowly and quietly. Her eyes immediately searched for Squall, ready to burst with desperate apology and yearning love for him...

... only to have her heart sink.

Squall was asleep, with his head situated close to Rinoa's and his face tilted toward her. A few inches more, and he could have kissed her cheek. His right arm was tucked under his head, while the other was sprawled at the edge of the bed, not far at all from Rinoa's own hand, which was peeking out from under her blanket.

Disappointment and hurt was all Selphie could feel at the moment as she stared at the scene before her. She felt frozen, for a moment, unable to tear eyes away.

Squall and Rinoa. The knight and his sorceress.

_(I wonder... if I'm too late.)_ Selphie knew it may be a stupid idea and that this could be purely accidental, but she knew that a development like _that_ could be possible, especially since she knew that the two of them had gone to Esthar plenty of times together. And that her own relationship with him was on the rocks.

Unable to stand seeing the two any longer, she backed out of the room without ever waking up and approaching Squall.

She couldn't face him.

* * *

"Hey Raijin! Time head out!" called a light tenor voice from outside of the quarterstaff specialist's hotel room. It was accompanied by loud, impatient knocking.

"Right, ya know..."

While the others were facing drama on the homefront, rookies Raijin, Fujin, and the much lesser known Dev Feydor were out in Deling City on a mission. Well, they _were_, anyway. They were about to eat dinner out, finished with their duties for the day.

Raijin would love to say that their mission was important and even dangerous, but with their ranks as they are, he could only say that he was a guard at a three-day conference of a budding world alliance. Well, maybe it was sort of cool. It was a lot better than hearing about some other low-levels' assignment of escorting some popular actress as she held a press conference concerning Scandal #546.

Raijin opened the door, revealing Dev, an energetic and well-intentioned blond with the looks of a heartthrob, and his distant friend, Fujin. She tried not to look as uncomfortable as she felt, but he knew better. The two of them have been avoiding communication the entire time, using Dev as a messenger between them.

Would he even consider her a friend anymore?

Dev had sensed that something was wrong, but didn't seem to mind, for some reason. He also didn't pry. It was a relief for Raijin, though. Otherwise, the entire mission would have been full of even more awkwardness.

Raijin exited his hotel room and followed his comrades as they headed toward the elevator. After a silent ride down to the lobby, the three rookies exited through the front entrances. From there, they began their walk to the bus stop. "Where are we going, ya know?" he asked. He knew that Deling was a big, bright place with many shopping centers and reknown restaurants. Meaning, many options, but their stomachs only had room for one meal each and maybe some dessert.

"Fujin said earlier that she wanted to try Shumi food," the blond replied, hitching a thumb toward the aforementioned SeeD. "There's a Shumi restaurant a bus ride away. Supposed to be good... right Fuj?" He glanced at her expectantly.

"... YEAH." She clasped her hands behind her back self-consciously.

Dev swiveled his head around to grin at Raijin. "That all right with you?" he questioned.

"Actually, I've always wanted to try Shumi food, ya know..." Raijin muttered slowly, remembering a conversation he had with Seifer and Fujin a long time about going to Deling for the best Shumi restaurant away from Shumi Village.

It had been a good day, too. It was a little before that whole mess that was the Sorceress War. The three of them were just sitting on the docks of Balamb, fishing and talking about life. Seifer and Fujin knew virtually nothing about Shumi Village except for what they learned in class. So Raijin, who took an interest in different places, filled them in. He mentioned mainly the food, which he tended to talk about the most when it came to other cultures. He guessed the way he described it soundd appealing to his friends, for they immediately decided that together, they would save up money, take a trip to Deling, and spend a few days eating, shopping, and sightseeing.

However, that was probably all in the past. Raijin couldn't see the three of them planning anything like that anymore.

"Great!" Dev exclaimed. "Oh, hey..." He pointed ahead of him, at a bus sign accompanied by two benches. "There it is."

His enthusiasm almost reminded the rookie SeeD of Rinoa... not quite hyperactive like Selphie, but just as compassionate. He didn't admit this to anyone (like he had anyone to talk to anymore other than Dev, who he befriended since making it as SeeD), and surely had trouble admitting it to himself, but he had a little crush on Rinoa. Out of the new armada of friends referred to as the "Orphanage Gang Plus Three," Rinoa seemed the most approachable and the friendliest. Her presence wasn't strong and almost demanding like Selphie's or Irvine's, nor was she standoffish like Quistis or Squall. She wasn't impatient like Zell or Seifer, nor mocking like Fujin.

Even nowadays, even when the others would cast him confused and/or hopeful looks or none at all, the sorceress would pass him by with the tiniest of smiles.

It always made his day a little happier.

The three of them reached the stop just in time. A Deling bus pulled right up, letting the SeeDs on. With all of the vehicle's seats full, they had no choice but to stand and hold on to the bars. They stood adjacent to each other, with Raijin in the middle, Dev to his right, and Fujin to his left. The proximity of the fellow ex-Disciplinary Committee made him uncomfortable, and he couldn't help but look down at his feet.

But why he was wondering what she was thinking, he had no idea. Maybe it just came naturally through all the years he has known her.

"STUPID..."

Whoa, she talked. Raijin pretended not to notice. He didn't feel like talking about _that. _He just wanted to eat some Shumi food and go home. He felt her face him, her eyes probably examining him condescendingly. It was something she did a lot.

"RAIJIN."

Dev, sensing that things might get ugly, chose to interject. "Uh, so what did you guys think of--"

"DEV. QUIET," the female of the group cut in irritatedly.

Raijin was grateful for Dev's attempt at saving him, but he knew that overcoming Fujin's rage was impossible for the docile blond. "Do... we really have to do this right now, ya know?" he asked evenly. "On a bus, ya know?"

She laughed bitterly under her breath. "You really are something." With her vocal guard down, both Raijin and Dev braced themselves for some serious talk. "Don't you think that maybe you're being delusional about this?"

He scoffed nonchalantly. "About what, ya know?"

"You know exactly what." She glared up at him, refraining herself from giving him a good kick in the leg. If she did that, then it was less likely that he would end up listening to her. "Look, I figured that this was my only chance to talk to you without you running away and avoiding me and Seifer. Better now than never."

He shook his head. "You mean by leaving me out? Pushing me away? Making me feel... alone, ya know?"

She stared at him, expressionless. He didn't know what it meant.

"We don't mean for that to happen," she said slowly. "You should have spoken up if you were having problems with us."

"Like you would listen--"

"Hyne, Raijin!" Fujin finally shouted, catching the attention of everyone else on the bus. "As, you know, _friends_, you should be able to _talk_ to us."

Being as stubborn as he was, he didn't relent. "Not when you're busy eating dinner at Zell's or shopping with _Quisty_ and _Sefie_, ya know."

"If this is your way of victimizing yourself, you're dumb," she countered irritatedly. "You're making this a bigger deal than it really is--"

"I'm not--"

"--and you're not even thinking logically," she continued, not letting him speak. "You brought this all upon yourself."

Raijin rolled his eyes. It didn't go unnoticed, though.

"DON'T," she warned, pointing a finger at him threateningly. "If you're expecting a straight-up apology, you're wrong. Think with your head."

"Who said I wasn't, ya--"

"This is our stop!" Dev announced to his teammates in a singsong voice. Promptly, the bus came to a halt and the SeeD gently nudged Fujin and Raijin off the vehicle before they could finish their heated discussion.

As they hopped off, Fujin shot a look at Raijin, daring him to speak again.

He didn't. Raijin was fiercely annoyed, unable to believe nerve of Fujin, calling him out like that, especially while they were in public. He wasn't going to re-think his actions. No way.

* * *

Selphie trudged back to her room, her entire body feeling heavy from the emotions burdening her. After she stepped through the door, she began to cry again, letting herself sink to the ground. With her knees halfway tucked underneath her, the Trabian let herself go.

_"Sefieeee...."_

_(Don't listen, don't listen,)_ she begged herself. A small part of her was still clawing for the easy way out of pain, but it was coming at her with a vengeance. Her eyes blurred by the endless stream of tears, she watched as a fuzzy image of Irvine came into her view.

_(No, Selphie. NO.)_

She shook her head vigorously, as if it would make him go away.

_"Ya talk to Mr. President?"_

Hyne... she felt like she could really hear that Galbadian drawl. Selphie wiped her eyes quickly, clearing her vision. Upon doing so, she found a pair of violet eyes gazing patiently at her. He was squatting in front of her.

_(Stop stop stop stop stop,)_ she repeated in her head, her heart racing. Why was this happening? Why couldn't she find a stable peace of mind?

_"Ah, so you did,"_ Irvine continued, his voice buoyant and cheerful. _"And ya saw Zell, didn't you? He seems fuckin' depressed. I think he cares more 'bout Rinny than he lets on."_

"Shut up," she rasped brokenly.

Irvine obediently stopped talking and laid a gentle hand on her head, just as Zell had done earlier. The action stunned her. She could almost feel the warmth radiate from him. It was uncanny and disturbing. Selphie could only gape at him, for a second doubting that this was really her imagination.

He smiled at her consolingly. _"Hard watchin' all that festival footage, huh? I'm sorry, Sefie."_

Finally giving in, but only for the moment, she spoke to him reluctantly. "How..."

_"... did I know?" _he broke in, completing her sentence with a chuckle. _"I know whatever you know."_

_(Whatever I know...?)_ Deciding that she had enough of "talking" to "Irvine," Selphie pulled herself weakly to her feet. Maybe sleep would make it go away. It was getting late, anyway.

To her chagrin, Irvine followed her to her bedroom._ "You get it now," _he muttered from behind her, sounding almost proud of her. _"My Sefie's back."_

Before she could try and figure out what he meant, she felt something plunk down on her head._ (His hat...)_ She had kept Irvine's hat after finding it undamaged in the prison wreckage. Ever since then, she has held it very dear to her.

_"Listen, Sef..."_ his voice was a little sad-sounding now. _"I want you to do something for me. This'll be the first and last time I say this, so listen good."_

The girl remained unmoving, her back still on him.

_"I can't be there for you all the time,"_ he said ruefully. _"As you've figured out for yourself... you have yer boyfriend for that. Mr. Grumpy loves you. He could pro'ly give ya more than I ever could... even when I was alive."_

Selphie felt something wet fall against her cheek. She was feeling hurt again with the pang in her chest and everything, but realized that she no longer tried to block it out.

_"So... since I'm not needed here anymore,"_ he went on, his voice growing softer. _"I'll leave ya here, but with a favor. I want ya to keep my legacy alive, 'kay? Promise?"_

_(Of course I would...)_ she thought, but there was a long pause from him. She supposed he wanted her to respond out loud. Selphie debated whether or not she should continue conversing with him like she had done before. However, since this was the last time, there was no harm in replying, was there? "Okay," she whispered, barely audible. She sniffled, on the verge of crying again. "I promise."

Suddenly, she felt two arms wrap around her, pulling her into him in a warm embrace. Selphie nearly fainted from her surprise. What really got her, though, was how much she could sense from it. The tickle of the jacket on her bare arms, the musky smell he carried with him, the feel of his chin resting on top of her head... it was as if--

_"Thank you, Sefie,"_ he murmured gratefully, interrupting her thoughts.

"Irvy..." she practically mouthed, her eyes widened with confusion.

_"Goodbye..." _Right then, she felt that familiar warmth slowly leave her. He had let her go, very reluctant in doing so. But how could she feel such a thing?

_(Goodbye?)_

Quickly, Selphie whirled around to face him, but found that there was nothing there. It was like he was never there at all. Tears falling freely now, she raised her hand to her head, and realized that his black stetson hat was really on her head. She was utterly lost._ (Now I really don't know what's going on...)_ For the life of her, she couldn't figure out if she put it on herself, or if something beyond her understanding had happened, and it scared her greatly.

Couldn't she tell what was real anymore?

* * *

_Wheeewww~_

_Thanks to my reviewers for motivating me. Otherwise, you'd have to wait another year or two for me to "come around" to this thing again. :P I don't really have much else to say, so I'll see you in the next chapter!  
_


	14. XIII: Nothing Wrong With Me

**Author's Note:** _Hurray! I'd like to give a shout-out to my readers and reviewers! Thank you so much for keeping up with the story!! It really means a lot that you all stuck it out so long. :3_

**Disclaimer: **Final Fantasy VIII belongs to to Square-Enix. I'm just here to make a story.

* * *

**Maybe It Could Work**_**  
by Elcyion Pitye**_

_**

* * *

  
**_

**XIII. Nothing Wrong With Me**

A week and a half had gone by since Rinoa fainted. Unluckily, she was still comatose, but at least she remained in stable condition. She was healthy enough to stay at Garden and not have to go to an actual hospital.

"I heard you got your head chewed off by Kadowaki."

That was the first thing an amusedly smirking Seifer said to Squall as the former entered the viewing room of the interrogation room.

Squall kept a straight face. "We have enough money to fix the room," he replied humorlessly.

"MORON," Fujin remarked to her commander. Feeling like she was behind the other rookies despite her high performances at her constant missions, the silver-haired SeeD requested to shadow a high-level as well... and she happened to get Squall as her mentor. She had arrived with him, and this was her first time in this particular room. It was obvious from the way she fascinatedly stared through the viewing window at not only the ever-so-grumpy, slouchy Bethe Rhiannon, but at the prisoner's surroundings as well.

"Where's Quistis?" Squall asked Seifer, changing the subject.

The taller man shrugged. "Around somewhere." He noticed that his superior was casting a slight glare in his direction. "Cut it out, Commando. She'll be here on time. You know her."

True to his word, the door swung open, revealing a razzled Quistis. She gave the others an apologetic look as she sauntered into the room.

"Told you," he shot triumphantly at his rival. "I win."

_(Since when was this a competition?)_ Squall thought to himself, rolling his eyes at him.

"LONG TIME NO SEE," Fujin greeted the instructor, bowing slightly.

"Ah! Fujin," she exclaimed in surprise. "About time I've seen you. I heard you've been very busy lately..."

"MISSIONS. SEED TESTS."

"So who have you been making out with, Quisty?" he asked impishly, noticing the blonde woman's unkempt appearance.

She blushed at his comment and angrily turned her face to the side. "Seifer, you're an idiot..."

"So... you really did?" he questioned. His smile wavered in his misunderstanding of her flushed cheeks.

"No!!" She adjusted the glasses on her face out of annoyance. "Anyway! Let's get on with this. Neither Nida nor Alethea D'Artemus will be able to join us today. They are both away on a mission. So the questioning will be up to me and Seifer."

Seifer scoffed. "So you're gonna actually talk to the bitch?"

The blue-eyed blonde smiled at him. "No, you are."

Squall stifled a snort.

"Oh, fuck no!" he yelled adamantly. His complaint was immediately met with a kick to the shin from Fujin. "OW!"

She glared at him. "STOP."

"Dammit, Fujin..." After he quieted down some more, he adjusted his trenchcoat and glowered at Bethe through the window. "Why me, anyway?"

"I feel that you're good enough of a SeeD to do this on your own," Quistis explained matter-of-factly. "I trust you to do a good job."

Seifer scowled. He looked from Quistis to the anarchist and back again. "Are you saying I'm gonna go in there by myself while you three sit out here and gawk at me?"

_(Not like we want to...)_ Squall thought, sighing at Seifer's behavior, not too fond of the idea of watching at his rival and the redhead (again!) for a long period of time.

"Well, yes, obviously," Quistis answered him, blinking. "I mean, you already know exactly what is going on, so it shouldn't be hard, right?" She gestured toward Fujin. "Fujin is the one here who doesn't know as much, although I know Squall filled her in."

The eyepatched woman grinned at him mischievously, realizing something from the uncertain look in his eyes. "SCARED."

".............." was the only response she received. He shifted his eyes to look elsewhere. He didn't even know how to reply.

"Oh, Hyne..." Squall muttered, covering his mouth to hide the oncoming laughter. Seifer was no longer so big and bad anymore.

Quistis, however, had the audacity to giggle. She clamped her hand on Seifer's shoulder, patting it encouragingly. "Don't worry about it, Sei-Sei! Just be arrogant like you always are!"

"I didn't even say anything!" he insisted. No one seemed to believe him. He turned to Fujin and pointed at her crossly. "You! I hate you!"

She just shrugged, looking innocent. "FAULT. NOT MINE. ALL YOU."

"You might want Quistis to go in there and hold your hand," the commander suggested calmly, folding his arms across his chest coolly.

"Since when did everyone start making fun of me?!" Seifer raged, finding that all three of them were ganging up on him. "You know what? Fuck that. I'll show you..." He ended his sentence with a grumble as he shoved himself through the door to the interrogation room.

Squall smirked as he settled himself in a chair. Quistis took out a notepad and a pen and sat down across from him. Fujin chose to remain standing, planning on simply observing the interrogation.

Meanwhile, Seifer, who was careful in not letting his nerves show or get the best of him, put on a brave front as he stepped up to Bethe. The ex-REVOLUTION member didn't notice the blond come up to her, his shadow falling over her. She seemed to be dozing in her chair, her hair covering her face and her head tilted forward.

Seifer cleared his throat.

She looked up, raising an eyebrow at him. "Who are you?" she asked him. She smiled mockingly. "Are you one of the little newbies?" She looked up at him up and down, checking him out. "You look older than that other girl. Way hotter, too--"

Not liking the way she was looking at him, Seifer folded his arms across his chest. "Hey, now... we're not here to have small talk."

"Hm, your voice shook. You scared?"

"No."

"Sure sounds that way. Poor baby." She snickered. "Get that fine-as-hell commander to hold your hand, why don't you?"

"Okay, now I'm angry," he muttered through gritted teeth. Pointing a finger at her, he turned toward the people outside of the room. "Can I strangle her a little?!" he asked. "Just a little--?"

She rolled her eyes. "Fucking rookies."

"What did you say?!"

("He reminds me of a certain someone when he said that," Quistis whispered to Squall. "A certain fighting blond guy."

The commander nodded, immediately agreeing.)

"Wow, someone needs to work on his temper," the redhead sighed exasperatedly.

"Stop pissing me off, then!" Seifer raged as he hit his fist against the wall.

"I barely did anything. But hey, at least you don't look scared or nervous now."

Seifer scowled at her.

She smiled. "Wanna know a secret?"

"Not really," Seifer responded vehemently, "but since we have to hear your ugly voice, I guess I have no choice."

"Yeah, well...." she shrugged nonchalantly, as if her following words were no big deal. "I actually... used to be SeeD for Galbadia."

There was a pause.

".... And?" Seifer prompted her.

"And that means I know the pressure of being a rookie, all the crap you get because you make all the mistakes--"

"Hey, stick to the fucking subject," Seifer interrupted viciously.

"Well, what _is_ the subject?" she asked innocently.

"...."

"Hah. Dumb rookie."

Seifer looked like he was going to kill her, but he forced himself to remain his cool. Having a short temper in an interrogation room was no good. "One of ours is in a coma," he explained tightly. "She had a DF. We don't know if she'll wake up or if she's just gonna--"

"Stay like that forever?" Bethe finished for him plainly. "So you think I'd know more about this shit? About DFs?"

"Yes," he sighed loudly.

She shook her head. "Told you everything, Rookie."

"Don't call me a fucking--!"

"But," she cut in, smiling as she watched him silence himself immediately. "I know people who might know more. People who've used them more."

"So there are more of you," the ex-knight concluded.

"Of course there are."

"Why didn't we know about this shit earlier?" he queried warily.

"Didn't feel the need." She noticed Seifer's disbelieving look. "But hey, look at it this way. You know _now_. That's what's most important, right? I quit that fucking group. I'm going to rat them out. Okay, Rookie?"

"Tch."

"Well, anywho," Bethe continued, a smile slowly forming on her face. "The group of me, Ciel, Azul, and Jarek are just a small scouting group. We're high up in authority out of the whole of us, but we have our own faction, which consisted of those damned weaklings you fought on your exam day."

Seifer, who was currently facing Bethe with his back to Squall, Quistis, and Fujin, glanced toward the window, hoping everyone else was paying attention.

" Yeah, so we were given the crappy ones," she went on, "the more expendable part of us. They were the ones who joined the cause for the hell of it. No to very little fighting experience." She adjusted herself idly in her seat. "But you see... I have an older brother. His name's Rade."

"Rade?" Seifer repeated. "Rade Rhiannon?"

"Yeah, same last name and everything," she affirmed. "He's in charge of what we call the underground faction. He's the lone leader, but he's got all the tough ones. They're the main group of REVOLUTION. They're the ones with all the DF knowledge and power."

"What makes them different from your faction?" he asked, starting to slowly pace around. The knowledge of another, stronger part of REVOLUTION was getting him on edge.

"They were handpicked by Rade," she told him. "He's like a foster parent or a crazy cat lady, I swear." She laughed a little. "Picking up strays and rejects. These guys were prison escapees, ex-SeeDs, ex-soldiers... people like that. If he could get his hands on a sorceress, he would." She gave Seifer a scrutinizing stare. "You look like this guy I saw on the news a while back."

He visibly tensed.

"Did shit with sorceresses, killed people," she listed, looking up at the ceiling in thought. "Oh, he managed to fuck up Esthar. Fucked up the world, in fact. God, so glad we had our headquarters underground."

He shifted his feet uncomfortably. "Your point?"

She shrugged. "Rade has people like that in his crew. Would've wanted more, too." She chuckled and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "You'd be good enough, though. Don't you think? You look like him."

"Enough," he rasped, shooting her a stony glare.

Bethe blinked. "Did I hit a sore spot?" she asked sweetly. "Don't tell me you're related to that guy..."

"...."

"Hm. Guess not. Oh, wait..." she leaned forward, taking a closer look at Seifer, who stepped back at her sudden invasion of his space. "_You're_ that guy, aren't you?" she exclaimed with excitement. Her smile grew and her eyes lit up. "Wow! So this is where you've gone."

Seifer could feel himself losing his temper again.

" Small world, eh?"

"Goddammit, I don't want to--" he started angrily.

Man, I feel like I'm meeting a celeb--"

"Shut the FUCK UP!" Seifer roared, punching the wall with his fist. Surprisingly, it didn't make a dent. "GET THE HELL BACK ON TOPIC, YA HEAR?!"

"Touchy subject," she mumbled to herself under breath. Turning back to him, she grinned again, more softly this time. "Okay, so the underground faction is still around. They start doing their shit when they know something happened to us... and by now, I'm pretty sure they do."

There was a long pause, probably due to Seifer trying to calm himself down from his outburst. But after a while, he spoke up again. "What are you trying to say?"

"What do you think?" she answered brusquely. "We go there and talk to Rade. They can't kill you if I'm around. They still think I'm one of them. If anyone knows about DFs, it's him. You know why? 'Cause he knows where to draw them."

"So he and those others have them junctioned?" He knitted his brows together, quickly mulling the information over. "... Is that why they're the stronger part of REVOLUTION, then?"

"Pretty much."

The door suddenly swung itself open. Both Seifer and Bethe looked up in surprise as Quistis, Squall, and Fujin all entered. The instructor, who had been the one to open the door, held the knob and tilted her head in thought. "If what you say is true, Rhiannon," she began softly, "then we better plan for our next trip quickly... and you get to be our navigator."

"Hmph, not a problem there," Bethe replied, smirking at her. "Fuckers won't know what's coming to them."

"Any precautions for this mission?" Squall asked. "Will they fight upon seeing us, or are they relatively diplomatic?"

"If I'm there, and you let me do all the talking, and you guys do a bit of acting, then I'll pretty much have this under control," she elaborated matter-of-factly.

"Commando, Quisty, can we even trust her?" Seifer questioned, feeling unsettled. "What if she lies to us? If she _has_ been lying to us? The woman could turn on us!"

Squall snorted. "I'm not dumb, Seifer. If anything happens, you guys better fight. I'm entrusting this to SeeDs who I know will do a good job."

Seifer looked like he realized something. "You guys...." the blond repeated. "Wait, you want me to be part of this shit?!"

"I wonder."

"Hell..."

Squall raised an eyebrow at his rival. "What happened to the cocky, over-confident you?"

"DFS. I THINK," Fujin guessed. She pointed at Seifer. "FOR HIM. DFS NOT SO EASY."

Seifer didn't say anything in reply. Instead, he shrugged. No one could tell if the shuriken-user was right or not. "Guess I'm done here," he muttered rigidly, his eyes falling to the floor. "Lemme know when you need me," he called to them as he left the room.

"Weird kid," Bethe noted when he was gone.

"I'll give him a talk later," Quistis said, studying him for a moment. She looked worried. A second later, however, she shifted her gaze back to Bethe, the heels of her boots clicking as she walked briskly to her. "As for you, we'll need a day or two to sort out the mission before we actually take you out."

"Goody. Hope your sorceress lasts that long."

"We'll make sure she does," Squall responded with a hard tone. "Right now, we have other things to do. Rest and think of what you're going to do for your part of the mission."

"And don't mess it up," Quistis chimed in. "We're counting on you. If you betray us in the slightest, you'll face consequences."

The redhead chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. I know."

The blue-eyed woman seemed satisfied, at least for the time being. She managed to grin as she gave the ex-anarchist, the rookie SeeD, and the commander a quick nod of the head as she dismissed herself.

Squall, glancing at Fujin, gestured with his hand toward the door. "Go on and rest, too, Fujin," he said quietly. "We might need you later."

"OKAY." Fujin saluted him and exited as well.

When both of the SeeD women were out of sight, the commander sighed and began to take his own leave. But before he did, he paused at the doorway, not looking at the captive. "We normally don't trust people like you this easily," he stated, as if pronouncing the obvious. "I still don't. But with these current events... we're at the point of going through every single length to save the world and the people in it."

"It's a SeeD thing. I know," Bethe said, her voice not as humoring as earlier. "But in all seriousness, I'm not kidding around when I say I'll help."

That didn't change his feeling of doubt toward her. She was still a criminal, after all. She was probably expecting something in return later. "... Whatever."

"I know I changed my mind pretty quickly there, but trust me, I know how to think shit through fast and thoroughly." She shook her head slowly. "Since I came to, I thought about everything, and I think this probably the best way to go... at least in my case."

Squall didn't reply, nor did he give any indication of a reaction.

"My brother needs something like this to snap the fuck out of it," she continued. "He got power hungry. Needs to get off his high horse, know what I mean?"

The brunet wasn't sure why she was telling him this, but he thought it was about time for him to leave; he had errands to run. He wondered something, though. "So... you're doing this because you care about your brother?"

She gawked at him as if he was stupid. "Hey, I know I've been bad, Mr. Commander, but that doesn't mean I don't give a shit about my family. He's a big part of the reason I joined his cause."

"...." Squall suddenly thought of Laguna and his efforts to be there for him. Even though the commander continued to guard himself in front of the Estharian president, the father never lost patience to keep trying. It also helped that he had a generally optimistic attitude.

And boy, did that make Squall feel bad thinking about it.

_(... Wow, I've changed...)_

Maybe he should take a moment alone and think before running those errands.

* * *

Raijin tiptoed into the Infirmary, not wanting to catch Dr. Kadowaki's attention as he made his way to Rinoa. But being a bigger, more heavyset guy, it was hard _not_ to see him. It was easy for the doctor to spot him. "Oh!" she exclaimed in honest surprise. "I haven't seen you in a long time, Mr. Ameno." She stood up from her desk out of courtesy.

He waved at her dismissively, feeling a little awkward and nervous. "Uh, yeah, ya know. Just here to see Rinoa..."

Raijin had been awfully clumsy when he was younger, so he made frequent trips to the Infirmary. For some reason, Kadowaki had taken a liking to him.

She laughed. "So, no scrapes or gashes this time." She gestured toward the back. "Go ahead and see Rinoa. I'll be at my desk if you need me." To Raijin's relief, the doctor retreated back to her seat without anymore to say.

The quarterstaff user stepped into the back room. The blinds were closed, like they should be when it was evening. A small lamp in the corner dimly illuminated the room, darkly lighting up the sorceress' resting body.

Raijin thought she looked like a goddess, even in her comatose state. Was this how Squall felt over a year ago? The ex-Disciplinary Committee member always thought Rinoa was a gorgeous person, on the inside and outside. But what started out for him as a mere fascination of Rinoa quickly became something else. He felt like he was a fan of her; she left him very starstruck. He had a crush on her, but he wasn't in love with her, because in the end, he didn't know her too well, especially when things between him and the rest of the group were still strained.

He strode over quietly to her bedside and sat down at the chair next to her. After simply looking at her for a little bit, he begain to talk, as if she would listen.

" It's a shame, ya know," he began hoarsely, his voice cracking. He felt graceless and speaking-wise, uncoordinated, but there wasn't anything he could do about that.

"I'm not talking to Fujin or Seifer, but I miss having them around... ya know?" He let out a breath, sort of a half-snort. "What am I saying? It's not like you can solve my problems, ya know?"

He looked up slightly, noticing something in front of him. "The window's broken, ya know..." he commented dully. "I wonder what happened..."

Raijin realized that he must sound stupid to Kadowaki, who could probably hear him talking to her comatose patient. Taking that into account, he decided to shut up. Instead, he let his thoughts do the talking... maybe then he wouldn't feel as dumb.

_(I don't even know why I came here, ya know?)_ he continued in his head, his eyes shifting back to Rinoa._ (I look like a ... maybe a fanboy. We're not tight, ya know?) _Raijin sighed_. (I guess I don't really have anywhere else to go. There's the people from my squad, ya know, but... I don't know. I don't see myself getting close to them, ya know.)_

_(Then rely on me.)_

Raijin blinked in surprise, snapping out of his thoughts. A different voice unexpectedly entered his mind. A female one. Rinoa? He narrowed his eyes down at the girl's form, warily looking for any change in her state, but she seemed to be the same as before.

_(Maybe I'm crazy, too, ya know,) _he thought, rationalizing. That random interjection in his head scared the crap out of him for those few seconds. He tilted his head down, rubbing his eyes with thumb and his index fingers. He contemplated the idea of sleeping more.

But from out of nowhere, he felt cold fingers clamp down on top of his other hand, which was resting on his lap. Raijin gasped and turned to stare at the owner of the hand.

She was awake.

But somehow... this girl in front of him wasn't the one he admired. It looked like Rinoa's face, but her eyes were a deep, scary black, the kind that sucked his soul in. Her smile was not friendly; it was calculating and mocking. Her icy grip on him only got stronger when he tried to pull away out of fear and confusion.

"No one's crazy," she said in a hollow voice, her eyes locked on his.

* * *

A meeting was called later that day; in the evening. Squall had notified the Headmaster of what was going on, and in turn, Cid told him to do whatever he needed to do and that he would be there if he needed anything.

So basically, Squall was left on his own to solve this problem. That was how it usually went.

When the brunet had gotten to the meeting room, which turned out to be Quistis' homeroom classroom, Seifer and Fujin were already there. Seifer was sitting in the instructor's chair, slumping against the back of it boredly while the patch-eyed woman sat at a desk, browsing the internet on the desk monitor.

"You're early," Squall noted blandly.

"NOTHING ELSE TO DO," Fujin answered, not looking up from the screen.

"What she said," was Seifer's reply as he gave a big yawn.

"You told Selphie, right?" Squall asked him. "About this meeting?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I did, but I can't guarantee that she'll show up." With a scoff, he added, "I don't get why _you_ couldn't do it, Puberty Boy. Don't you want to make up with her?"

"It's difficult," said Squall, clearly not wanting to talk anymore about his current relationship with the Trabian girl.

"Sure," the blond drawled knowingly. "You're just scared, huh? It hurts being the victim of cold treatment--"

"I get it," Squall cut in, giving Seifer a sharp look. "I know." He then turned to Fujin, sighing in annoyance. "I hope you don't have anything else to add."

"NOT PAYING ATTENTION."

"... Good."

The conversation ended there. Squall, who decided to stay at his perch by the instructor's desk and face the back of the classroom, took this moment to start reflecting again, his thoughts on his estranged significant other. Absently, he began staring at the doorway.

_(Please let the next one be Selphie.)_

Five minutes later, he heard footsteps outside the classroom.

" It's not her," he suddenly heard Seifer say. The blond had noticed the commander staring distantly toward the door.

Squall glared daggers at him. "I didn't say anything," he said curtly. "What makes you think...?"

Seifer stifled a laugh. "Oh, come on. It's pretty obvious that you're waiting for her ass to show up." He shifted his gaze to whoever was behind Squall, giving the new arrival a nod of acknowledgement. "And I don't think Selph walks like a chickenwuss."

Squall looked to his right, and sure enough, Zell had arrived, his hands sitting sullenly in his pocket to match his equally sullen expression. The shorter blond managed to give Seifer a pissed off look and reply snappishly with, "Not in the mood, Seifer." He immediately sunk down into a chair, sitting a few seats away from Fujin.

"Tsk, when are you ever?" the ex-knight commented devilishly.

This warranted another angry expression from the martial artist.

"God," Seifer murmured with a scowl, more to himself than the others, "Everyone has shit crawling up their asses today." He rolled his eyes, but otherwise, shut his mouth. The meeting would not go well if he put everyone in a sour mood before it even started.

"I crashed into Quistis," Zell spoke up plainly, his words directed at Squall. "Said she, Nida, and that rookie girl'll be a little late 'cause of more research or something."

Squall nodded, suddenly reminded that he had approached Quistis and assigned her, Nida, and Alethea the task of researching what he had explained earlier about his visions, what Laguna had suggested (as odd as it may be), and whatever they could find from Esthar anything else, especially relating to Rinoa's case.

"Since there won't be many people, we can wait a little," he said, glancing at the wall clock at the back of the classroom. It was five after the official meeting time, but it didn't matter since he expected them to be late. Squall skimmed the room, finding that two people were missing other than the previously mentioned SeeDs, and of course, Selphie.

_(Make that one,)_ he noted, watching as a groggy Dev Feydor came in, hand over his mouth as he yawned. He sat in the second row, behind Fujin, who greeted him quickly before returning to the computer screen.

_(Now where's Raijin? Friend or not, he has to be here for this...)_

"Where's Selphie?" Zell questioned from out of the blue.

"What?" Squall replied cluelessly. "I don't know. Seifer told her--"

"No, I mean..." the tattooed teen gave the brunet a long look. He seemed puzzled. "... She didn't talk to you?"

_(Hn. I wish,)_ was Squall's immediate thought, but Zell's comment made him puzzled as well. "No," he muttered slowly. ".... Why?" Did Zell know something about her?

He only blinked in return, genuinely surprised. ".... Nothing. I just thought―no, never mind." He shrugged.

Squall wasn't going to let him off easily. The commander, cross-armed, stepped up to his comrade, staring down at him with a stern, but curious face. "What is it?" he asked monotonously, although Zell could tell there was a sense of urgency underneath it. "Did you talk to her?"

He scratched the back of his head, his once somber expression now a guilty one. He slumped down slightly in his seat. "Yeah... she was supposed to... I don't know, make up with you," he admitted.

This piqued Seifer's interest. "Whoa, what happened?" he asked nosily. "She was so... adamant about Commando, no offense to him."

"Hyne, Seifer..." Squall groaned. "This is my business."

"She watched the video, right?" Seifer guessed. "Right?"

Zell had no idea how he knew. Lucky guess? "Yeah..."

"I don't get it," Squall said.

"VIDEO. GARDEN FESTIVAL," Fujin chimed in without looking up, sticking her own nose into Squall's business as well. It didn't seem to matter to her whether she did or not; they were all friends, anyway. "RINOA FILMED."

"Oh." Squall wasn't particularly fond of that video. He hasn't seen it, but he was sure that it was very embarrassing.

"Well, yeah, we watched it," Zell said nonchalantly. "I – well, it's not about me – but she saw when Rin caught you guys being lovey dovey." He sighed. "I guess that's when everything clicked with her."

_(Everything clicked?)_ Squall repeated to himself, staring at the ground. _(She... wants me again? Then why isn't she here now?)_

Seifer's words echoed Squall's thoughts. "So she misses Squall again? Why isn't she here then?"

"Tch. Hell if I know," was the answer. "I don't know what happened after she like, ran out in the middle of the tape if she didn't go to find Squall."

Squall stared at him, not knowing how to respond.

Before the conversation could move on further, Quistis burst into the room, the calmness in her expression betraying the confusion in her voice.

"Hey, uh," she said, almost uncertainly. "What if Laguna was right?"

* * *

Raijin had never been scared by sweet, caring Rinoa, but this time was different. His body rigid and still with shock, and maybe even fear, he let his jaw grow slack, unable to reply to the girl's words.

It was okay, though. Rinoa, or rather, Hecate, continued to speak. She sat up slowly, letting her grip fall from him. "You're lonely," she commented softly. She seemed to be examining his eyes.

It made Raijin uncomfortable. The way she was looking at him was very unnerving. It was as if she could see everything. It was invasive and creepy. Those abysmal black eyes seemed to be sucking in his very being.

For a second, he wondered they were indeed doing that. Raijin stood up from his seat and took a step back, toward the door. He remembered the rumors going around about the DF Hecate. Rumors at Garden were true a lot of the time, surprisingly.

Rinoa stepped off the bed, her hands behind her back. She smiled mischievously and continued to gaze at him, stepping closer and closer to the frozen Raijin until she was directly in front of him.

"Rinoa?" he managed to ask, hoping a part of the girl he knew was still inside.

She shook her head, still smiling. Her eyes never left his. "No, but you're close enough."

* * *

The mood of the atmosphere in the room quickly changed. There was a long, surprised pause before someone spoke up again.

Seifer looked confused. "What? Quisty? What do you mean?"

Squall's face seemed to mirror his rival's, silently asking the same thing.

By this time, Fujin had shut off the computer, her expression just as confused. Dev, on the other hand, had no idea what was going on.

"Laguna was right after all," Quistis answered. "Hecate not only affects Rinoa, but everyone around her. It's at a far lesser degree than her, of course, but it's still screwing with our minds, to say the least."

"Sorry," Dev piped up, raising a hand to catch her attention. "But I don't know what's going on. I got called here, but--"

"What were you told about the PF situation?" the instructor asked him.

"PF?" echoed Dev dubiously.

"Parasitic Forces," Quistis explained. "Odine was thinking of renaming this... phenomena to reflect the actions of these things more accurately. I personally want to start using it."

"Huh," Seifer muttered, mulling the information over. "You're right..."

"Just how they suck the life and energy out of its owner," the rookie replied with a thoughtful look on his face. "And that they're stuck there for life. No unjunctioning."

"Right," Quistis muttered. "Well, you know that Rinoa, the sorceress, has one, right? I know how Garden likes to gossip."

"Yeah... she's in a coma or something."

"Not only that, but someone is having odd dreams that seem to come from the DF... er, PF... Rinoa has," Quistis explained, looking pointedly at her commander, who narrowed his eyes at her in curiosity.

"Hold on," Squall spoke up. "Are you saying that my visions _do_ have to do with this?"

"What visions?" Zell queried.

Quistis realized that she and Seifer were the only ones in the room (other than Squall himself, of course) who knew about the Lion's violent visions, so she briefly explained to Zell, Fujin, and Dev about his situation.

" VISIONS. RELATE TO PF'S?" Fujin asked.

"I would like to think so," Quistis replied. "The PFs exhude something to everyone around them, even though they're junctioned to only one person. These visions is one of these things. Who knows. We may not even be aware of Hecate's influence on us."

For a moment, Squall accepted the idea. It made sense at first, but he changed his mind less than a moment later. "But I've been having them even when she's not around..." he explained, furrowing his brow. "Hell... even before Rinoa even obtained Hecate."

Quistis seemed to be at a loss for words. She lowered her head, thinking, and finally came up defeatedly with, "Then... I don't know what to say, Squall... It'd be back to the drawing board, then."

Squall sighed, shaking his head, but still took her words into consideration as he tried to think of a possible reason how he would get the visions.

He remembered Bethe talking about her four-man platoon, two of whom had PFs. Suddenly realizing something, Squall frowned deeply to himself. He never thought it would be a big deal, but he recalled a mission with Selphie and Firion months ago where they had to go undercover and find Ciel and Azul. He dismissed their brief encounter with the terrorists as nothing, but they did stick around long enough to threaten the SeeDs.

And if what Quistis said was correct and true for all PFs, then maybe whatever was exhuded may have affected him, Selphie, and even Firion already.

"That mission," Squall quietly piped up.

Everyone turned to him, wondering what he had to say.

"Months ago," he began, "Selphie, Firion, and I encountered Dawning and Maestoso briefly. None of us thought anything else of it at the time; we thought it was simply a bomb diffusion mission." He crossed his arms, formulating more plausible generalizations in his head. "I don't even remember the details of what happened, exactly. It was just a regular mission. The bomb threat was just a bluff, and the terrorists managed to escape."

"I think I remember that," Quistis murmured thoughtfully.

"And if what you said was true, Quistis," Squall explained, "that Hecate, and possibly other PFs, within the people they junction release something that affects our minds, then a brief encounter was possibly all we needed."

Everyone in the room was silent. Seifer, Zell, and Fujin, who didn't participate in the conversation, only looked at each other in confusion.

Quistis took all of this into consideration. After a while, she spoke. "Squall. Go through your reports for that mission and show them to me and the research team, and make sure Firion is in on this. Get Selphie to do the same. We also need to question them."

Fujin chose to offer her two cents at this time this well. "IF YOU--" she stopped herself and cleared her throat. "If you think about it, all of us in this room may have encountered them."

Seifer knew what she was referring to. The time when Irvine, she, and he got into a skirmish with Bethe in Balamb. "Meaning, we're affected, too," he thought out loud. He turned to his fellow blond SeeDs. "Dincht? Quisty? How about you guys? How about Nida?"

"Well, I don't think ordinary ol' me has anything special."

Everyone turned toward the owner of the voice, who was none other than Nida, along with Alethea. He had entered the room, raising an eyebrow. Behind him and his shadow was Selphie, who had rarely made an appearance to the other SeeDs in recent days. Squall found himself staring at her, realizing that even though it has been a while since he had seen her in person, she hadn't looked less beautiful to him.

Nida and Alethea stepped in, the rookie girl taking a seat near the wall as Nida walked up next to Quistis and Squall.

Selphie caught her boyfriend's eyes, as if searching his for an answer.

_(An answer?)_ he asked himself. _(What is she even asking?)_

He didn't speak. He stared at her just as questioningly, but she broke the gaze, staring down at the ground as she took a seat next to Zell.

"Do I have to paraphrase what we have just been talking about?" Quistis asked the newcomers.

Nida shook his head. "Thea and I are good. We know enough." He pointed at Selphie with his thumb. "She might, though."

At seeing everyone's eyes suddenly on her, Selphie reddened and ducked her head. "Hey, no need to look at me like that..." she muttered, chuckling nervously.

_(Is she... back to normal?) _Squall didn't know what to say or what else to think, but it was as if Hyne brought something of value back to him after it was lost for so long.

Quistis noted the oddness about Selphie's sudden normalcy, but was quick to go back to business. "Well," she began, clearing her throat, "both Garden's lab and Odine's lab in Esthar agree that any contact with a PF could trigger an onslaught of mental disturbances."

"Such big words..." Seifer remarked to no one in particular.

"But as I was saying," the instructor went on, casting her former student a glare, "Squall and Selphie, along with Firion, need to go through their reports for that mission again... the undercover one. Any contact with a PF, even a _person_ junctioned to one, could affect you."

Selphie let her jaw go slack, as if she realized something. "Wait..." She thought about what Quistis had been saying earlier when the Trabian first walked in. "So... DFs--uh, PFs--mess up our memories, too, but in a different way from GFs, right?"

"Right. And the way we think. Our emotions and desires."

"Can they... like..." she puffed out her cheeks in thought. ".... Make me see or feel other things? Like, crazy things?"

Zell raised an eyebrow. "What? Like what?"

"Hallucinate?" Nida offered. "Is that the word you're looking for?"

Her eyes lit up. "Yeah, that's it!"

Quistis gave her a long look, remembering something. She seemed to be examining Selphie like she was a test subject. "Selphie," she started. "I contacted Laguna today after he left... right before this meeting, actually."

At this, Selphie's expression fell. The blonde was probably referring to her and Laguna's strange conversation during that day. Maybe there was a chance there wasn't, because it wouldn't have been Laguna's business to tell Quistis that, but now that she knew more about the DF's capabilities...

" From the way you're _not_ looking at me, I think you know what I know," Quistis continued. "We have to talk about it, though, Selphie. If I've talked about Squall's visions, then it's only fair to us to talk about... yours."

"What?" Squall spoke up, confused and wary. He glanced from Quistis to the Trabian. His eyes remained on his girlfriend's, not expecting this kind of information. "You had--"

"It was slightly different," Selphie interrupted. She could hear the bit of hurt in his voice, but pretended not to notice. She refused to look at him. She was afraid of her heart wrenching at the expression in his eyes. Instead, she stared at her clammy hands on the desk.

"How?"

"....."

"Don't hesitate, Selphie," Quistis said, her voice encouraging. "I know it seems personal, but if Squall could admit his experience, so can you. This is for research... to hopefully get Rinoa back."

Selphie sighed exasperatedly, and for a second, looked very serious and contemplative. However, she quickly bounced back as if nothing happened. A smile, albeit an uneasy one, spread across her face as she answered. "Like Quisty said, I've been having... weird things of my own."

Squall caught the secret glance she was giving him, as if checking to see if he was prepared.

Prepared? He didn't like that. But was he overreacting?

"You know how... Irvy--" she stopped herself, unable to get the words after that out. "Well, um, because of that, I've been, I guess hallucinating about him. Like he was there. And I guess Sir Laguna noticed my change in behavior... that I was like, keeping to myself, isolating myself... that stuff." She looked at everyone meekly.

"You did," Seifer confirmed nonchalantly. He raised an eyebrow. "I still don't get why you'd isolate yourself, though."

"I felt like he was all I needed," she said softly.

Squall narrowed his eyes at her, taking the words in.

_(What?)_

"Who needs the world when I have him, right?" she continued, lost in her thoughts, unaware in the change in her mood, or the fact that her words were really affecting Squall. "I... I don't know how I felt about him."

The commander recalled when she blamed him for Irvine's death and blaming the strain of the relationship on his visions. And here she was, having some of her own and acting like they didn't have anything to do with their relationship as well.

_I loved him._

It hurt to remember, but it also angered him. He wondered if she was worth the trouble after all. "You mean to tell me that you've been warding me off because you keep hallucinating about Irvine?" Squall asked her, betrayal evident in his voice.

Selphie looked at him, perhaps stunned that he said anything at all to her. "... You make it sound so--"

"So what?" His voice was rising, but he didn't realize it. "What difference does it make even if he was? You still ignored me when you had your delusions--"

She stood up abruptly, shocked at his audacity. "I was still getting over him!" She was getting louder as well, her volume matching her boyfriend's.

"Like hell you were," Squall shot at her through gritted teeth.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Selphie asked him incredulously, getting fired up. She pointed at him accusingly. "You started this whole 'keeping-secrets-and-act-like-an-asshole' thing!"

"You act like I actually wanted to kill you!" Squall snapped. He slammed his hand on the instructor's desk behind him, livid. "What do you take me for, Selphie?! I would never lay a finger on you!"

"Whoa, lovebirds..." Seifer tried to butt in, hoping a violent lover's quarrel wouldn't form. He raised his hands to calm the two of them down. But obviously, wasn't working. The rest of the people at the meeting, with the exception of an irritated Quistis, watched with shocked fascination at the argument taking place.

"How would I know that?!" Selphie yelled. "You act so cold toward me! Your girlfriend! I had to wonder, you know!"

"Hey--!" Zell attempted weakly.

"I have my moody moments, fine!" Squall reasoned with a restrained voice. "But as if you knew what to do when you have these thoughts invading your mind!" He stepped toward her, his eyes square on hers. "... Killing someone you love."

Selphie paused, looking at him as if he was stupid. "So you think I haven't felt the same?!" She gestured toward herself in the chest. "You think I haven't felt lost and confused about my own visions?!"

Squall gave her a long, disbelieving look. "Didn't you tell me you loved him? Didn't you say straight to my face that you loved Irvine? How is that lost and confused? You even said you didn't need me because he was there. I wanted to believe that you said that just because of Irvine's death," Squall went on, his voice now at a normal tone and almost rueful. "But you pushed me awa--"

"Squall," she cut in weakly, "it's not like that." Her face actually softened a few degrees. Her eyes dropped to the floor in thought.

"Guys," Quistis interjected forcefully. She stepped in between the couple so that neither could face each other. She glanced at each of them frustratedly. "Keep the personal parts _out_ of this meeting."

Squall turned his face away with a hard expression, indicating that he was finished with the conversation with Selphie.

The Trabian mumbled an apology and sat back down.

"And for the record," the blonde added at a much quieter voice, "you both are at fault. If you love each other; fix it."

The silence afterward was awkward.

Quistis took this opportunity to speak up again, squelching the discomfort of the room's atmosphere. "I guess we'll end the meeting here." She gave her commander a hard look. "Since Commander Leonhart is not all here today..." She turned back toward Fujin, Seifer, Nida, Alethea, Zell, Selphie, and Dev. "... we will meet again tomorrow, as you are all chosen as part of Operation PF. I want to remind Selphie and/or Squall to retrieve their reports from their undercover mission. And for them to get a hold of Firion. He'll be part of this, too--"

Squall crossed his arms, watching Quistis talk. _(I wonder if Headmaster should've made her commander instead of me...)_

"--As for the rest of you... rest of _us_, to be more precise, I want written reports to the best of your memory, your contacts with DFs, er, PFs, and possible PFs. I want them tomorrow morning. We'll meet at 0800 hours."

She eyed Squall, wondering if he had anything else to add. Squall sighed. Funny, he was supposed to be the one doing that.

"Well, then," the instructor said. "Dismissed."

Seifer and Zell were the first to shoot up from their seats. Fujin, who was probably on the computer throughout the whole meeting, logged out and followed the two boys out the door. Nida personally dismissed Alethea, and the two went about their own ways. Quistis was the last one left except for Selphie and Squall, who simply stood there, like they had been when they argued with each other. The instructor looked at the two of them knowingly, but didn't comment. "Squall," she began instead, "Make sure you or Selphie will let Firion know that we need to talk to him. ASAP." Without much of a goodbye, she walked out.

"She's still mad," Selphie murmured meekly as she watched the blonde's figure go out of sight. She and Squall were alone now. "Her eye was twitching funny."

"With that, she's not so tough," Squall remarked quietly.

"You don't know how many times I had to keep myself from laughing," the Trabian added with a smile.

"I know. I've seen you."

The two shared a chuckle for the first time in a long one. When they quieted down, Squall realized that they had much more to say. While it felt good to have idle chatter with her again, their relationship troubles couldn't be ignored.

"Selphie..." he sighed, "you confuse me."

Those were the same words he used right before they got together. He wondered if they would be the words he would say right before they broke up. He didn't want it to come to that, but what if things couldn't be fixed?

When she didn't say anything, he hung his head, feeling emotionally drained. "What do you want?"

"Squall..."

"I'm no angel, either," he told her in a low voice. "I'm not going to defend myself for my own behavior. But for all the times I've hurt you... I'm sorry." His last words were barely audible, but he was sure Selphie could hear the sincerity in them.

The click of her boots echoed in the room as she slowly made her way toward him. He hesitantly shifted his gaze from the floor to her approaching face. She looked sad and questioning; the same look she held when she first entered the room. Her beautiful emerald orbs stared up at him. Like any other time before, Squall subsequently felt entranced, his feeling of longing stronger than ever. But although they were only inches apart, Squall still felt far away.

"I never meant to hurt you like that," Selphie finally said, her voice small and wavering. "So much happened... I can't even begin to explain."

There was a long silence on Squall's part. From what he remembered, Selphie had been preoccupying herself with her own visions, or whatever they were. _(Irvine.)_ "Do you love me?" he blurted out, voicing his thoughts on accident.

Surprised at his directness, she blinked at him. ".... I should be asking you that," she answered.

"Asking me that?" he repeated uncertainly. She looked reluctant. What did he do this time? "Selphie?"

"Rinoa..." she hinted in a mumble.

"..."

"I watched the Garden Festival tape," she explained, picking at the hem of her yellow jumper. "Seeing you... and me... I guess, made me realize that even though Irvy was important to me, you were the _most_ important because you're my boyfriend." She stopped playing with her dress to look up at him. "I remembered thinking once, _if Irvy was never in the picture, then Squally would be the one I'd love the most..._ but with him there, I still felt..." her voice drifted off unexpectedly. She was getting lost in thought, her expression pensive.

"I don't understand," he replied, looking at her gently. "What are you..."

"Talking to Sir Laguna made me realize that you still are," she continued, her eyes welling up. "Even with Irvy... you still are the most important person to me. But..." She began to look downcast. "When I ran to find you, and then saw you asleep with Rinoa in the infirmary... I thought, _maybe the Knight and the Sorceress were still...__"_

He raised an eyebrow._ (Knight and Sorceress?) _"No," Squall said sharply. "You're overthinking this. Yes, I've been spending a lot of time with Rinoa lately, but it's all because of the DF – excuse me, PF – thing. As commander, I had to accompany her to Esthar all those times."

"But--"

"She's your friend, Selphie," he reminded her, his voice softening again. "And mine." He lifted his thumb up to wipe away a stray tear on her face. "Whatever it was you saw was completely innocent." Despite his words, he hoped his interaction with the seductive side of Hecate wasn't what she was referring to.

She managed to smile at him through glassy eyes. She seemed relieved.

She looked so cute right then that he couldn't help himself. Hesitantly, and almost shyly, he lifted her chin with his forefinger and kissed her lightly on the lips, his own searching for the love the two had put on hold.

She moved her head away, sighing. "I don't deserve this--"

Squall only wrapped his arms around her, crushing her to him in a fierce embrace. He buried his face into her light brown hair, noting the familiar scent of flowers and citrus. His heart yearned for her more. "No," he breathed. "I would've said the same, but.... I belong with you, Selphie. Only you."

She sniffled and pushed him off a little to look up at him mutely, her gaze holding his. She looked like she realized something for the first time. "You love me," she whispered in fascination.

_(Of course I do, you little idiot.)_

"And all I did was..." her voice faded, her eyes suddenly drifting to a nearby desk. "Squally..."

"Hm?"

"I know you've probably said it a bunch'a times before," she said contemplatively, "but whatever we both have, we should... fight it together."

Suddenly, she smiled up at him.

He could feel his own lips spread into one as well, glad that for once, her smile was real, reflected radiantly in her eyes.

_(Thank Hyne.)_

"We've been blaming the wrong people," she continued. "But for real, Squally.... we have to remember how much we love each other." She blushed at the mushiness of her words.

"Of course," he stated in agreement, leaning down to kiss her on the forehead. He reached down for her hands, which entertwined naturally with his. "Selph," he murmured, "you have no idea how mu--"

"Let's go to my room!" she exclaimed, giving his hands a squeeze. Before he could protest, Selphie started pulling her surprised boyfriend toward the door of the classroom. From the glint in her eyes, Squall knew why she would suggest such a thing.

_(I wonder how... dominant...)_ Squall refused to finish the thought, his face already growing hot. But he's made out with her heatedly before, right? _(Why am I so nervous?)_ "Se-Selphie," he managed to choke out, "we--" Ding. An idea. "--need to talk to Firion first, remember?"

She pouted, looking crestfallen. "Oh... yeah, that's right..." However, she immediately bounced back. "But after, we'll.... hang out in my room, 'kay?" Seeing the uncertain look on his face, she glared at him. "Squally...!"

"What?" He patted her affectionately on the head. "Let's go find Firion." He offered Selphie his arm.

The green-eyed girl took it gladly, finally feeling peaceful with their relationship. "Okay."

* * *

"Instructor Trepe! Instructor Trepe!"

Quistis was on her way to the dorms when she heard someone yell her name from across the fountain.

Not recognizing the voice, she ignored it at first. For all she knew, it could be a creepy Trepie wanting to smother her with praise and starstruck eyes.

"Instructor! Instructor Trepe!"

Well, this person seemed persisent enough. Daring herself to stop and turn around, she found a rookie SeeD she didn't recognize (she could only tell by the uniform he was wearing) running up to her, looking slightly frazzled. "Instructor," he panted, keeling over to catch his breath.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, slightly worried.

"It's the sorceress!" he cried, running a hand nervously through his naturally spiky black hair. "She's missing!"

"Impossible," Quistis interjected, staring at him incredulously. "She's in a coma, remember?"

He shook his head, rising from his bent over position to look at her more properly as his superior. "I was in the infirmary, needing to be checked out after my mission, but found Dr. Kadowaki passed out on the ground--"

"What?!" the blonde yelled.

"--and that the room was empty otherwise." He furrowed his brow in thought, his mind searching for more details. "There looked to be a scuffle―Instructor?!"

Quistis didn't let the rookie finish. She was already sprinting to the infirmary. When she burst through the door, she was met with a messy room and a doctor's unconscious, but mostly bloodless, body. The desk crooked from its position. She deduced that someone, possibly Kadowaki herself, grabbed the edge of it in desperation and pulled herself up with it in an attack.

She heard running footsteps come up behind her. "Instructor," called the rookie's voice.

Without turning around, she addressed him. "Did you tell anyone else?"

"No... this _just_ happened," he explained.

"Approximately how long?" Quistis knew her tone was starting to sound suspicious, and she knew that he could tell.

"It was approximately five minutes after I initally entered when I called for you," the SeeD stated. "You were the closest person to me." He paused, seeing that her suspicion wasn't wavering. "Instructor, I can assure I have nothing to do with--"

"I know," she interrupted quickly. "But with all that's been happening this year, anything could be the case." She ventured toward the back room, not surprised by the empty bed and its rumpled, unoccupied sheets. The door was left wide open.

"Am I the only one you told?" she asked. She took out her cell phone and flipped it open. She needed to contact the headmaster.

"Yes, ma'am," the rookie replied.

"Well, keep it that way," Quistis told him in an orderly tone. "If a lot of people knew now, there would be a panic within Garden that will get out to the public. We can't afford to have a mess like last year." She started to dial Cid's office. "Otherwise, thank you for informing me. Your name please?"

"Leonardo Steele, Level 10 SeeD." He saluted.

She nodded hurriedly, anxious to get take care of business. "Thanks again, Steele. I'll take care of things from here."

He saluted again and reluctantly left as if he wanted to offer help. Despite that, he didn't offer, perhaps thinking it was for a higher level SeeD's job to handle the situation.

When he was out of sight, Quistis pressed SEND on her phone. After a few rings, she heard the click of the other end being picked up.

"Headmaster?" she queried. "Yeah, bad news. Kadowaki was attacked in her office... and Rinoa's disappeared... and she could be anywhere."

* * *

Squall took off his jacket and laid it on Selphie's couch. Gloves as well.

" Tee-hee, you're already stripping for me."

He glanced at his girlfriend, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, just doing part of the job for you," he responded dryly.

Selphie lifted his hands, kissing the back of each of them. She held them for a while, awed that a simple touch like this would cause such strong chemistry to flow between them. Slowly, she led them to her breasts so that his hands cupped them gently. Squall, while nervous as hell, didn't do anything to remove them. Selphie gave the back of his hands an encouraging squeeze.

"Selphie..." he began, his voice pressing her to stop. He didn't realize that he was smiling.

She giggled, entertained by the expression on his face. "C'mon, we both know you like it..."

His face started to turn red as he averted his eyes. He dropped his hands from where they had been previously.

"Aww," Selphie cooed. She poked him gently on the nose. "You're so cuuuuute..."

He scowled at her.

"What?!" she asked, blinking up at him.

"Nothing."

"Nothing, hm?" she repeated cheekily. She gave his plain white t-shirt a tug. "Take it off," she ordered cutely.

He stared at her, clearly surprised at her request.

"Hey, why are you all red, Squally?" she asked teasingly. But she left him no room to answer as she gave his shirt another tug. "Remove it. I just... wanna see something." She stuck her tongue out playfully and winked. There was something different about the look in her eyes. More _lustful_, Squall wanted to guess as he complied silently, dropping the cotton garment somewhere near his feet.

"That's better," she said impishly.

He jumped, feeling her fingers caress his stomach. He watched carefully as she gazed at his body in fascination. Her slender fingers slid up slowly until they came to his chest. This was feeling too nice. Plus, he could see down her jumper. Seeing his bare chest in such close proximity to her cleavage is beginning to muddle his logical thoughts. _(Does she even wear a bra with that thing?)_ "Sweetie," he whispered, somewhat breathless. He knew he had felt this kind of urge before... the urge coming from his carnal male desires, but it had never been so strong as now.

"You want to, don't you?" she challenged, her grin sultry. She leaned into him, tilting her head up for a kiss. "Let's go," she murmured, her lips grazing his.

_(Whoa, where did Seductress Selphie come from?)_

But nevertheless, Squall led her to the bed, allowing her to lay herself down comfortably before he climbed on top of her.

Selphie was the one to initiate the kiss this time, the liplock hotly intense from the start. She draped her arms around his shoulders in the midst of it and spread her legs around him as they continued to make out.

When he went up for air, he took time to notice his "handiwork." The Trabian SeeD was breathless, her lips slightly red from the hard kissing, her hair messed up and slightly tangled, and her jumper wrinkled and a little haphazard-looking. She was staring up at him in a seductive manner, waiting for him to further ravish her. He felt smug about it. It forced a smirk on his face. As his eyes traveled down her body, he noticed the way her legs were spread, lying around his own. He could barely make out what was underneath.

_(Oh, Hyne...)_

His eyes darkened with desire. Unable to contain himself any longer, the commander's lips crashed upon Selphie's feverishly.

* * *

"You're still scared."

Raijin gulped and turned around from his seat at the edge of hotel bed, finding Evil Rinoa staring at him with those creepy, abysmal eyes. That's what he started calling her: Evil Rinoa. The Rinoa he has encountered times before was completely different. She never made him feel overly cautious or scared for his life. "Well, ya know," he began nervously, "I-I don't understand w-what's going on, ya know... Was casting Firaga on Dr. K-Kadowaki necessary, ya kn--"

"I'm giving you friendship," she cut in cryptically. He could hear her footsteps, slow and threatening, come toward him. "A complacent man like you doesn't deserve to be alone and shunned by his so-called friends."

Raijin suddenly remembered his heated discussion with Fujin.

_"Don't you think that maybe you're being delusional about this?"_

_"You mean by leaving me out? Pushing me away? Making me feel... alone, ya know?" _

"_We don't mean for that to happen... you should have spoken up if you were having problems with us. As, you know, friends, you should be able to talk to us.__"_

Hadn't he spoken up before? Hadn't he? He tried to reassure himself, but something was nagging at him. Was he starting to doubt?

"_You brought this all upon yourself.__"_

He was definitely starting to doubt, and he was sure Evil Rinoa could see right through him.

"You want to go back," she murmured in a calculating manner, narrowing her eyes. "We can't have that."

Raijin stared at her, wide-eyed. _(Wha...?)_

Suddenly, her arm darted out. She clamped her hand down on the top of the SeeD's head. Her fingers were beginning to dig into his skin.

" Ri... Rinoa?" he stammered.

"It's Hecate," she hissed, a smile slowly forming on her face. A yellow glow suddenly blanketed her hand with a low hum. "I'll make sure you remember that."

* * *

"Hey! Are you in there?! Selph?"

Selphie's eyes shot open at the sound of the fast knocking and the urgent voice of Seifer. She sat up quickly, finding that her room was dark. How long did she and Squall sleep after...

She colored shamelessly, unable to stop a dirty smile from forming on her face.

"Selphie?! You there?!"

"Coming!" she called apologetically. She glanced at the clock. It was ten until midnight. _(What would Seifer want?)_ She bounced out of bed and noisily started searching for her jumper on the floor. The loss of weight in the bed made Squall stir. Tiredly, he turned over, watching her in the dark through squinty eyes.

"Selphie?" he asked groggily. He massaged his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "What time is it?"

"Dunno, but Seifer's at the door," she answered with a muffled voice, in the midst of dressing.

"Don't let him in," he ordered flatly. "In fact, don't even answer and--"

"It sounds important." She adjusted her clothing and flung on the lights, much to the dismay of her boyfriend, as she rushed to her front door.

Selphie, whilst untangling her unkempt chestnut-colored tresses with her fingers, unlocked her door. It slid open promptly, revealing a serious-looking Seifer with an equally somber Zell behind him, his arms crossed. The shorter blond was leaning against the wall opposite of her.

"You're with Squall, I hope?" he guessed. "He wasn't anywhere else. Not even his room. No one answered their phones..."

_(We didn't want to be interrupted,)_ she answered silently, trying not to smile. She nodded at him in response.

"We need to talk to both of you," Seifer told her, "so get Commando out here --" the ex-knight cut himself off and looked down at the Trabian suspiciously. "Hey, wait a minute, if you say he is in fact with you, then--"

"Then what, Almasy?" a shirtless Squall asked threateningly, coming up behind Selphie.

Seifer returned Squall's glare. "Well, why are you naked?"

"I'm _not naked_, you idiot!"

"About time you children lost your virg--"

"Sei Sei!" Selphie interjected lightly, getting the rivals back on track. "Um... why are you and Zelly...?"

Zell snorted. "We have an emergency, which Seifer seemed to forget about for a moment there."

Seifer shrugged. "C'mon, Chickenwuss. This is how I handle shit like this. You know me."

"How many times did I tell you to stop calling m--"

"But anyway," Seifer continued, ignoring Zell. He turned to Squall and Selphie. "Being serious now."

Squall lessened his irritated expression, his face now indicating worry. "It's not Rinoa, is it?"

Seifer sighed. "She's missing. And we have a feeling that it's not Rinoa herself who's out there. These PF things..." He lowered his gaze. "Who knows what the hell they're capable of, especially with Rin's sorceress powers."

Selphie's eyes widened. _(Rinny...)_ "So... what are we going to do?"

"Change of plans from what Quisty said at the meeting," the trenchcoated SeeD answered. "We're being assigned _right now_ rather than tomorrow to missions, straight from the headmaster himself."

"Meaning," Zell added, "we have to be in his office in--" he glanced down at his watch, "--huh, two minutes ago."

"So, get ready and we'll see you sick fucks there," Seifer told them teasingly. He smirked at them and left with Zell. The door slid closed behind them, leaving the couple time and privacy to get dressed.

"Sweetie?"

"Hm?"

Squall reached out to hold Selphie's hand. "When we come into contact with _her_.... the really.... _really_ hard part will begin." The commander looked into her eyes with a slightly hard expression, making sure her attention was fully on him. "Hecate has that effect on me. I need you by my side, okay? Stay with me."

She frowned at him anxiously. "Squally..."

"If I do anything to you," he went on, "hurt you or whatever, I don't mean it." He smiled at her. "I love you, all right?"

Sure, Selphie was a little scared of the future, for both of their sakes, but she did say that they would face it together, and she meant it straight from her heart. She exhaled slowly, readying herself for the missions and events to come."I love you, too," she replied confidently, giving his hand a squeeze.

Squall then hurried to get dressed (as Selphie already was) while the nunchaku specialist went off to gather her phone, her wallet, and the keycard to her room. They were late enough as it was for the urgent meeting.

Squall was already out the door, with Selphie right behind him, but at the last minute, she called out quickly to wait as she ran back into her bedroom. She spotted Irvine's hat sitting on top of a set of drawers in her open closet. She stared at it for a a second, contemplating.

_I want ya to keep my legacy alive, 'kay?_

She couldn't just leave it there collecting dust. She grabbed the black Stetson hat and put it on. _(Hee, last-minute accessory.)_ This'll be how she'll do it. She wasn't going to cry over Irvine anymore, but she can miss him and she can remember him.

" Selph?" she heard Squall call from her door. "Hurry up."

"Sorry!" she exclaimed, running out of her room. "Coming!"

He didn't ask questions when he saw her with that hat on. He was a little surprised at first, but then immediately gave her a small, understanding smile. "I think we better run," he suggested, peeking down at his watch.

"Race ya!" she challenged playfully. She was about to sprint away, but Squall spoke up again.

"One more thing," he said, his voice turning tentative.

"Huh?" She looked back at him, stopping.

"Can I... call you Sefie again?" He looked hopeful, so used to the little nickname he took from Irvine and the Orpanage Gang's childhood. It had always been Irvine's nickname for her, and even Seifer's, but she knew that the commander had given it sort of a new meaning since they started dating. _(Squall's is different... the way he calls me that is different from Irvy... but...)_

Well, there were still some parts of her that weren't ready. She hesitated as well, but after giving it a thought, she gave him a slight nod, not turning around. "Yeah... but after this is all over."

She heard him stride up to her. He put a hand on her shoulder. "You got it," he murmured warmly. Selphie felt Squall peck her on the side of her head.

And afterward, ran off.

"Cheater!" she yelled, laughing as she raced after him.

* * *

_Hope you enjoyed that. Our lovely couple happy again. _

_I can't believe how long I've been doing this thing, but no worries. Not going to abandon this or my readers. Love you guys. :D I know there was a definite change of writing style from the beginning up until now. If I feel like it, I might re-write the first few chapters. I won't change any of the plot, of course, nor most of the dialogue, but I'll clean the chapters up so that it's more in line with my current style._

_I have a lot of time nowadays (for the moment, at least), so hopefully I'll use it to work on this story and my other one._


	15. XIV: Broken Halo

**Author's Note: **_Welcome back! Sorry, that wait was horrendously long. :( But I FINALLY finished this chapter. I hope you enjoy._

_It's not as long as I imagined it to be, but there'll be more adventurous (along with mushy) chapters coming up; don't worry. XD  
_

_I'm still working on re-writing the first few chapters. Gotta fix some things. As of writing this note, I'm still working on the reboot of "Balamb Garden Blues." I'm also trying to give some of the OCs a little more depth here. It's partly to practice writing characters in non-fanfiction stories, and partly because they could use a little love.  
_

_. ._

**DISCLAIMER:** Final Fantasy VIII and its characters are the property of Square-Enix. Characters are by Tetsuya Nomura. I only own the story and the characters that are obviously new and made up.

* * *

**Maybe It Could Work**  
_**by Elcyion Pitye**_

* * *

**XIV. Broken Halo**

Everyone, including a handcuffed Bethe who stood in-between Zell and Seifer in front, looked toward the door as Squall and Selphie burst into the Headmaster's office, all sharing surprised looks. The couple seemed quite amicable, and it was only today they had the nerve to angrily bicker during offical SeeD business.

Ignoring them, Squall scowled and stood at the end of the formation next to Fujin. Selphie cleared her throat embarrassedly and jogged to a spot somewhere behind him.

As soon as everything was settled, Headmaster Cid began to speak to the SeeDs before him.

"I know Squall was to assign you missions tomorrow, but our objective has changed, and I am assigning all of you right now," he expressed urgently. "Rinoa has disappeared from the office of Dr. Kadowaki, who has been knocked out."

"What?" Seifer cried incredulously. "How the—?"

"We don't know, Almasy," Cid broke in, fretfully running a hand through his hair. "She could be anywhere."

"So what are we doing now, exactly?" Squall asked seriously.

"This has become a global matter, especially since Rinoa is the sorceress. SeeD from Trabia and Galbadia have been dispatched elsewhere, split among the Estharian continent and some of Centra," the Headmaster explained. "Edea's White SeeD will take care of the rest of the Centra continent. Balamb, meaning all of you, will be in the remaining continent, as it is the most condensed area, and we are currently the largest SeeD program." He eyed each of the SeeDs. "I've sent out lower levels to scout areas all over the world, but we will need bigger players to take care of anything specific that might be beyond their level. Your group will go to Galbadia. Since there are only so many areas to cover in the continent, we will only split into three parties."

Cid pointed at Squall. "Commander. You, Selphie, and Dev will cover Deling City first thing. If there is nothing there, hit Dollet." He turned to Quistis. "Instructor Trepe. You will lead Almasy and D'Artemus. You will be the party to take Rhiannon into the REVOLUTION hold, which I have been told is near Winhill, to find information. Gather as much as possible. And finally..." He nodded at Zell. "Mr. Dincht, you and Mr. St. Germaine will start at Fisherman's Horizon and make your way toward Timber and along the south. Nida will remain here with us as the second-in-command to me in the control center."

"Sir?" Dev spoke up, saluting. "Isn't Raijin Ameno missing? What is he assigned to?"

"From what I gathered," Cid said regretfully, "Ameno is not in Garden. I heard he was the last one to visit Rinoa. It may be possible that he is with her right now. For what reason, it's still unknown, but it's still possible."

"That's a bold thing to assume, Headmaster," Seifer piped up with a frown. "Maybe he's just being annoyingly lonesome somewhere. Maybe he's sick."

"But he wouldn't abandon his priorities like this," Fujin stated in a serious but concerned tone. "Especially since this is a job... an important one at that."

"We can't waste anymore time on wondering," Squall said sternly. "We're short on time. If something happened with him concerning Rinoa and Hecate, we'll deal with it then. If it isn't that, it's his problem."

Cid nodded in agreement with the commander. "If there are no further questions, then you are all dismissed. Good luck... and please pray for the sorceress to be all right."

The SeeDs fell at ease, grouping together according to their assignments. The Trabian girl immediately headed over to where Squall stood by the door, greeting Dev Feydor somberly as the rookie sauntered up to him hurriedly. However, before she was within earshot of them, she heard an awed voice behind her.

"That hat..."

Selphie whirled around, inattentively touching the brim as she did so. Her emerald green eyes met the startled purple of Alethea D'Artemus'.

_(That's right...)_ Selphie remembered seeing her in Irvine's room, possibly canoodling—_(Heh, what a funny word)—_before she burst in. The little jealousy the Trabian had for the rookie was long gone, but it was still odd that she had misjudged Alethea so much, thinking she was no more than a fake, airheaded bimbo, but here she was, a hardworking SeeD under the supervision of Nida. "Um, hi," Selphie greeted awkwardly, the bounce in her voice still intact.

Alethea had a wistful smile on her face. Selphie couldn't help but think that she remained as irritatingly beautiful as she did on that night, those pouty lips and those big, hypnotizing violet eyes. She could give Rinoa a run for her money. "I think it's sweet that that you chose to keep him alive within you like that," the dark-haired girl said.

Selphie blinked. "Yeah..." It was weird for the two of them to bring up Irvine, given how the yellow-clad girl first met her.

She sighed. "Look, I'm sorry about the way we met back then. I never had a chance to apologize."

"Huh?" Selphie muttered. "Alethea-"

"Thea," Alethea corrected. "I could tell that you didn't like me, but I don't want any grudges—"

"Oh, nonsense!" Selphie exclaimed, seeing where the girl was getting at. "I'm way over that!" She beamed. "I don't hold grudges, Thea. I had different feelings back then than I do now. We can be friends."

Alethea looked extremely relieved. "Oh, wow, thanks a lot!" She dipped her head in a slight bow. "I'll be heading off now. Good luck."

"You too, Thea!" Selphie said cheerfully, waving as the dark-haired girl ran off to meet up with Seifer and Quistis.

Upon her arrival, Squall gave her an odd look. "What was that about?" he wondered in mild curiosity. He seemed to have watched her exchange with Alethea.

"Tying up loose ends," she replied merrily.

"Our group seems to be doing that a lot lately," Squall commented softly, a hint of a smile on his face.

"Yeah," she said with a smile. "Now we have a few bigger ones to go."

* * *

After some uneventful train rides, the trio of Selphie, Squall, and Dev arrived safely in the capital city of Galbadia. As usual, the city was hustling and bustling with active nightlife, both inside and outside of the Deling City Station. Pedestrians pushed past the SeeDs distractedly on the crowded sidewalks. Traffic filled up the roads, and side vendors (both the legal and illegal kind) took up their usual posts and hidden corners.

"I forgot how big this place was," Squall said with a frown, sidestepping as an unaware business man hurried past him, arguing on his cell phone. "Even at this time of night."

"They're a few hours behind us at our Garden, remember?" Selphie reminded him with a wink. She then did a few quick stretches of her limbs, as if she was getting ready to run a marathon. "Anyway, we should split up," she suggested. "Easier to cover ground that way."

Squall didn't seem to like the idea. "Remember the last time we did that? At Timber?"

"This place has a lot more people around," she insisted, motioning about her with her hands. She noticed the dubious frown on her boyfriend's face. "Squally, I'm as tough of a SeeD as you are..." She seemed peeved.

Squall was very aware that she wasn't just a _girl_, but a soldier, no matter how much of a twig she looked like. Even so, he felt protective just the same. Especially when they had _just_ made up. But in any case, he knew she was going to wander off, anyway, if she felt like she should. "Whatever," he sighed, having no choice but to go along with her. The brunet shifted his eyes toward Dev. "And you? Are you familiar enough with Deling?"

The rookie smiled good-naturedly, running a hand through his healthy mop of blond hair. "I had a mission here recently, actually."

_(What a pretty-boy,)_ he thought absently, raising an eyebrow. A part of him hoped Selphie wouldn't get too taken by his appearance. "Good," Squall said monotonously. He rubbed his chin, trying to mentally picture the layout of the city. "The station's south, correct?"

"Mm-hm!" Selphie replied cheerfully. She spotted a town map mounted on a signboard nearby and skipped to it. "See? That dot says, 'you are here.'"

"Wow, I never noticed this the last time I was here..." Dev murmured with interest, taking a close look at the map.

The commander cleared his throat to catch the two's attention. "Well," he said, "Dev, you go along the west side of town to search for Rinoa and Raijin." He gestured to Selphie. "Selph, you go through the middle. I'll head east. As soon as we're doing thoroughly searching, we'll meet at Caraway's mansion."

Dev blinked puzzledly. "Why there?"

He smirked. "Maybe Rinoa went home." He gestured toward the mansion in the distance, which can be seen from any other part of the city. "It's a last resort. She's still pretty against her dad and his new presidency, but if she wanted to hide, then she'd probably head to the last place she'd want to go to."

The Trabian giggled. "Totally sounds like her." But a second later, her laugh died, as she realized that the sweet young woman she once knew might no longer be herself. Not if she disappeared like that.

Before the atmosphere could become too grim, Squall piped up again. "No time to waste, guys. Let's go. Radios on."

* * *

Supposedly, within Winhill, there was a hidden door somewhere in the vicinity of the Flower Restaurant. It was a random place to connect to the headquarters of an anarchist organization, but there was nothing to lose, especially if an ex-member herself verifed the secret entrance.

The four of them: Seifer, Quistis, Alethea, and Bethe (of course, in handcuffs), arrived at Winhill via the Ragnarok, parking the large vehicle a good ways outside of the small town. Seifer and Quistis flanked her on either side, with the dark-haired SeeD bringing up the rear. They didn't want it to appear that they were bringing a criminal into a quiet little place (although they were) with the cuffs around her wrists, but SeeD didn't want to risk letting her completely loose until they were in the headquarters. Thus they surrounded her well enough to keep any passing civilians from seeing the metal bindings.

The Flower Restraurant was unusually crowded that night. Not a common sight because of Winhill's small population and lack of active life. This was a place many old people came to retire. It was also the very definition of a quaint village. It was hardly a tourist's attraction unless old fashioned cottage houses and flower fields were anyone's fancy.

But Quistis knew they should use the crowd to their advantage so they could easily slip away into the cellar, where Bethe said the trap door into the tunnels would be.

She scanned the situation with a sigh. She took a careful look toward the bartender, the nearby waiters, and any customers close to them. It would be no good if anyone became suspicious of them. The door was right in front of them, but she didn't want any civilians to happen to glance toward them as they snuck through. But again, hopefully they could use the high number of people to conceal them when it came to hiding.

"Great," Seifer spoke up sarcastically, amidst the noise. "More chances for us to get attention." He glanced at her. "What's the plan, Quisty?"

The blonde was about to answer, when a gray-haired, 60-something-old man, dressed in a floral-patterned button-up and khaki shorts, approached the group of them, pointing a finger at the instructor herself. "Say," he said loudly, as if he couldn't hear himself. "You look like that SeeD on TV!"

Quistis unconsciously took a step back. "Um, do I?" Outside of Garden, she generally didn't garner as much attention as Squall, Rinoa, Seifer, or even Selphie, so it surprised her that he even looked at her before looking at the gunbladist with her.

"That blonde girl!" he went on, nodding. "My grandson called'ja Instructor Trepe. Said you were his hero!"

"Oh," she said through a fake smile. She hoped to Hyne the man didn't let anyone else know of her or the other SeeDs' presence.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Seifer lifting the collar of his coat to disguise his face better, just in case he got recognized as well. It was a good thing the stranger's back was to him.

"My grandson's a student at yer Garden," he continued with a smile. "He seems to enjoy it. I got a story about his entrance, actually-"

"Oh, um—" Quistis began impatiently, but was suddenly interrupted by Alethea, of all people.

"Actually, she's not Instructor Trepe," the dark-haired rookie interjected as she stepped forward, a pouty smile on her face. "She _so_ gets that a lot, though."

Quistis couldn't help but watch in disgust as the man's expression changed, his attention suddenly now solely on Alethea.

"Slut," she could hear Bethe murmur, watching the events unfold. Quistis shushed her harshly and tugged on chain of her handcuffs in warning.

"My," the old man breathed, looking at Alethea up and down. "Are you a friend of this lady?"

It was then Quistis realized what the girl was wearing. Alethea's outfit seemed more stylish and flimsy than functional, with a bronze, midriff-baring tank top layered over a darker-colored tube top. Over that was a dark, cotton button-up hoodie, which Quistis did remember seeing on her, only now half the buttons were clasped. On the lower half of her body was was a pair of fitted dark red cargo pants, with a wrap-around brown pouch sitting teasingly at her curvaceous hips. On her feet were a black pair of hiking boots.

Alethea turned on the slightly overacted, but effective, charm as if she was born with it. "Yeah, we've been besties since like, we were kids," she said perkily. She eyed the man meaningfully, as if hypnotizing him with her violet orbs. Her smile grew sexily. "The resemblance is totally uncanny," she continued in a sultry tone. "Don'tcha think?" She licked her lips, appearing nonchalant about the gesture.

_(Besties?)_ Quistis repeated in her head with a cringe. _(Just what kind of character is she going for here?)_

The perverted old man's eyes fell to Alethea's mouth. "Indeed," he agreed slowly. Behind him, Seifer stifled a laugh behind his jacket collar, while Bethe, even in her metal bonds, couldn't help but look openly amused.

Quistis was plainly grossed out. Alethea was barely seventeen!

The brunette pretended to sift through her pockets. "Aw, poo," she pouted cutely. "I was gonna get myself and my bestie some drinks. We're so like, _thirsty_."

"Ah," the man spoke up, as if coming up with an idea, "let me take care of this round for you, for mistaking your friend for Trepe."

"Oh, you don't have to..."

He waved her off. "It'll just be a second. I'll getcha something good." With that, he sauntered off to the bar to the group's left. Fortunately, the bar counter was crowded and inattentive to the heroes, forcing the man to hit up the opposite end, closer to the check-in desk of the hotel area.

Alethea, her facial expression and attitude back to their normal states, shot Quistis (who suddenly remembered the point of them being there in the first place) a meaningful look.

The blonde cleared her throat. "Right." She turned to Bethe. "Tell us how to get in. Fast."

Bethe nodded. She took a few steps to her side and glanced down. With her toe, she tapped a spot below her feet. "See anything different about the tile pattern here? It's bigger than the others." She traced the toe of her shoe over a chipped edge of the tile block. "Lift it up. It's a short jump down."

Seifer smirked, cracking his knuckles. "I got this."

Bethe rolled her eyes. "Knock yourself out, Stud."

After taking a quick look around to see if there was anyone else other than their party watching, he squatted down. He carefully fingered around the chipped edge and heaved the loose tile out of its place, sliding it the side and away from the others.

He frowned. "That thing wasn't so heavy."

"Of course not, Genius," Bethe retorted. "_I_ could'a lifted that thing up and thrown it at you like a boomerang." She turned to Quistis. "Just how did this guy get into SeeD, anyway?"

Seifer shot the blonde a warning look. "Don't answer that, Quisty."

She shook her head. "We don't have time for this. Let's just get down there before that old pervert comes back." Without a moment to spare, the instructor squatted down, preparing herself for the jump down. "Watch our surroundings," she said quickly. "Bethe comes down after me. Then you; then Thea... we need her last just in case that man comes back. Make sure we put the tile back afterward."

Then, dangling her feet over the edge, she slid down the rabbit hole. Quistis estimated the distance from the floor of the restaurant to the ground underneath to be around seven feet. It was dark except for the light coming from the entryway, and she could see that the ground below her feet was hard and rocky. On top of that, angled like it was a ramp leading downward.

She heard Bethe drop down next to her. "Got a light?" she asked. "It gets brighter from here, but getting there is a little more difficult."

"Well, yeah, I carry a flashlight, just in case," the instructor explained, turning to look at her. "We all should, as SeeDs on a mission..."

"Forgot mine," Seifer immediately spoke up as soon as he landed next to them.

"Of course," Quistis sighed. "It's fine, though. One should be enough. Although I doubt Thea would forget hers." She gave him a playful look. "Being a responsible SeeD, that is."

"Funny," he huffed.

The last of their group, Thea, hopped down from above. Immediately after, the gunbladist reached up to slide the tile back over them. As soon as the tile was in place. Quistis, followed by Alethea, switched on their flashlights.

"Spooky shit," Seifer commented. "How long do we have to walk like this? Hope to Hyne you don't always work in the dark."

"Of course not," Bethe said. "This is a ramp that leads down to the real headquarters. We gotta be as hidden as possible, you know?"

"Well, let's go," Quistis said, always the one to stop beating around the bush. "Thea, in front. Seifer, keep a hold on Bethe behind her. I'll be behind you."

Alethea obediently followed the blonde's instructions, stepping ahead of the others to guide the way.

"Keep a hold on me?" the ex-terrorist sputtered. "What, you think I'll run away to my former colleagues down here and turn on you?"

Quistis smiled and nodded.

"Y'all have trust issues..."

Seifer grabbed the redhead roughly by the arm. "Well, too bad," he told her as he dragged her after the brunette. "You're still our hostage."

"Whew, that's a firm grip," Bethe said, trying to move her arm to get more comfortable, but Seifer didn't allow even that much freedom. "Come on, you can let me go. Trust me when I say I'm not going anywhere."

"The hell are you babbling about?"

"I said," she repeated, her voice more firm, "I'm not going anywhere. You can let me the fuck go." She smirked. "Unless you don't want to, that is." There was something coy in her voice as the last part left her lips, and Quistis could tell that Seifer noticed.

He glowered at the redhead and dropped his arm. "Just don't trust you, that's all," Seifer snapped.

She chuckled. "Excuses, excuses..."

Quistis was very well aware that he was not, nor ever will be, attracted to Bethe, and that she was just messing with him; but nothing could stop her skin from crawling. She wasn't usually the jealous type. Even when she had that crush on Squall, she was never that possessive of other girls' attention on him.

However, she just couldn't help but wish it was herself the male rookie had his hand on.

_(Oh, what am I saying?)_ she reprimanded herself quickly, as if her previous thought was a mistake. _(I'm here on a very important mission and all I could think about is...) _She frowned deeply at Seifer's back. _(This... idiot!)_

Other than what previously transpired among the party members, the walk was overall uneventful and quiet.

Quistis, helplessly observant as she was, watched with wary curiosity as Seifer's eyes fell on Alethea. Quistis bit the inside of her cheek, miffed. That familiar feeling of envy was working its way into her gut. _(What? Did he finally fall for her charm?)_

But to her relief, Seifer didn't try any smooth-talking with his fellow rookie. "You're a weird one, Thea," he spoke up.

Alethea craned her neck to look at him. "Excuse me?" she asked him dubiously.

He shrugged. "I mean, you're all flirty around guys, even _old_ ones, but when it's just us and Bethe over here, you're quiet. It's almost like you're scared—" His words were cut short when he noticed her head snap to front again.

Quistis sighed, half relieved that he wasn't going to flirt with her, and half-irritated that he was so impulsive with his words. "Seifer," she warned.

"What? I'm just sayin'," he protested, glancing at the instructor. "You've seen Thea in the interrogation room with Nida. It was like a whole other side of her!"

"She can _hear_ you talking about her," Quistis pointed out, rolling her eyes. "Please don't make fun of Thea."

Bethe couldn't help but snicker quietly as she gave the female rookie's back an amused look. "Aw, sweetie," the redhead spoke up, whistling at Alethea. "No need to be shy around me. I won't hurt you."

For a second, Alethea froze in her tracks, but then began to walk faster, lengthening the distance between her and the rest of the group.

Quistis sighed heavily, resisting the urge to hit her palm against her forehead. _(Not Bethe, too...)_ She prayed to Hyne that this walk wouldn't last too much longer.

* * *

Zell found himself whistling a song familiar to him; a peaceful, but melancholy melody that reminded him of his and Firion's location: Fisherman's Horizon.

_(Matches my mood,)_ he thought to himself, and sighed. He really needed to get back to his old self. But it wasn't his fault that things were just not going his way. On top of that, it seemed as though things were never going to. He hoped that his sessions with Waverly will pull through in the long run.

"You searched around already?"

The blond SeeD looked over to Firion, who had just approached from Hyne-knows-where. "Guess so," Zell replied, scratching the back of his neck unenthusiastically. "FH's not that big."

"I suppose," was the reply. "But _I_ tend to be quite thorough... although I finished as well."

Zell snorted. This was his first time working with the snobbish SeeD, and even though he has already heard from others how much Firion liked to gloat, the martial artist still couldn't help but be ragingly annoyed by how much he made everything in the universe about him.

"You must be worried."

Zell raised an eyebrow at the odd statement. "What?"

Firion shrugged, smiling grimly. The blond couldn't tell if it was out of sincerity or if it was meant to mock him. "Your sorceress. Heard you two were close."

The shorter SeeD lowered his eyes to the ground as he shoved his hands into his pockets. His comrade bringing her up made his heart feel heavier than it already did.

_(No,)_ he forced himself to think. _(I gotta stay determined. There's always hope for Rinoa. I can save her. We all can.) _"We're all close," the blond corrected. "And both Seifer and Squall dated her at some point."

Firion shrugged. "That's not what the rumors said."

"... Huh?"

Firion smirked. "How does some punk like you get a young woman like the Galbadian president's daughter?"

"..."

"Huh," Firion said with a funny smile, observing him. "You just made around ten different facial expressions."

"Uh, yeah?" Zell said uncertainly. He didn't really know what his partner was talking about...

"Look," Firion went on, waving him off, "this is no time to be talking idly. We have some important business to do." He gestured toward the mayor's home. "We have one last stop."

"You're the one bringing it up!" Zell seethed. Despite this, Firion already began walking away in a huff. (_Is he fucking serious?)_ the blond simmered inwardly. He was tempted to beat the living crap out of Firion, but with the current mission, he had no choice but to follow instead. However, not without grumbling sourly all the way.

It didn't take them long to reach the mayor's humble abode. Mayor Dobe's wife greeted them warmly, but the SeeDs weren't feeling the love from Dobe himself. It was expected, however. Fisherman's Horizon was never too keen on SeeD.

"Hurry it up with your business, then leave," he ordered lazily, but with a sharp edge to his voice.

Firion, with his million-dollar smile already in place, held out his hand toward the mayor, who took his hand tentatively for a business-like handshake. "Sir, I am Firion St. Germaine, Rank 26, almost 27. Zell Dincht and I have come with some important business from Balamb Garden. In fact, it has to do with all of the Gardens. Everyone is involved somehow."

Dobe rolled his eyes. "Spare me that much, Mr. St. Germaine. What is it? And would it be possible for my town to not be involved?"

"Not if we have a sorceress on the loose," Zell finally spoke up, trying to sound professional despite his aggravation toward Firion. "Rinoa Heartilly is missing, and possibly dangerous. A fugitive, if you want to call it that."

Dobe's stern face didn't lessen any. "The _sorceress_, eh? When were the Gardens going to inform the world of that catastrophe? Nobody wants a repeat of last year."

"We're not sure about her capabilities just yet," Firion said truthfully. "We don't want to cause a premature panic among your town, Sir. However, _I_ will absolutely make sure you know if there's something to worry about. But as for now, we would just like to know if you have seen her."

"That black-haired woman, right?" he asked, crossing his arms in thought. "The one in light blue? Caraway's kid?"

Zell nodded.

"No," he answered. "Haven't seen her. Why she'd even come by this little place would be beyond me. Those rich kids should be sightseeing in Deling or Esthar or something."

Firion then fished a photograph out of his inner pocket. "How about this guy, then?" he asked, laying a picture of Raijin down on the mayor's desk. "This is Raijin Ameno. We suspect that he may be accompanying Heartilly."

Dobe took a good look at the picture. "Not gonna lie," he said gruffly. "I've seen this kid before. Used to fish around here. Just not lately."

Zell's shoulders slumped slightly, out of hopelessness. "Well, thanks anyway," he told the mayor, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Firion merely nodded. "Let us know if you hear or see anything." He pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it onto Dobe's desk. A business card.

_(Firion made business cards...?)_ Zell refrained from rolling his eyes. He opted for a mouth twitch instead as he turned on his heel to leave.

"Oh, Dincht," Dobe suddenly called. "It's Dincht, right?"

Zell twisted around to give the mayor an affirming nod.

"Even though I don't always think too highly of you SeeDs," Dobe said, scratching the back of his neck, "you sure did one hell of a job with saving the world."

If this was his way of thanking him, then Zell was grateful. The blond couldn't hide the smug smile spreading across his face, the first true one in a long time. "It's nothing I can't handle," he said lightly, for once, in a much brighter mood. At least someone appreciated something that he has done. "But thanks, Mayor." He actually turned fully and enthusiastically salute him before leaving. "Thanks a lot."

Dobe, nor Firion, for that matter, knew how much that compliment truly meant to Zell.

* * *

It was a narrow walk the rest of the way, but Team Quistis made it into most forefront room of the underground headquarters: the main control room.

Unfortunately, something didn't go as planned.

"They're not here," Seifer said dumbly, looking around the still-lit abandoned room. It was moderately sized, possibly the same amount of square feet as one of the single dormitory rooms at Garden. Computer monitors covered one entire wall, all turned off. Adjacent to it, attached to _that_ wall, was a row of desk-like panels with various kinds of buttons and levers. Each unit had a computer screen in front of it, embedded into the wall. The desks also had locked drawers on the side facing inward. Some loose manila folders were left astray on top.

On the wall on the other side of the monitor wall was another, wider, doorway with stairs spiraling downward. In the middle of it all was a much longer desk; it looked like three normal sized ones wrapping around whoever sat in it like a C. There was a computer set up in the middle. Seifer didn't know what the 'outer desks' were for, but whoever occupied that middle table was probably the most important person in the room.

"Well, that doesn't mean there's nothing we can do," replied Quistis. "Look through the computers; anything in the room, pretty much," she ordered. "We can probably find their whereabouts from them. Hopefully it's enough to catch up and get ahead."

Alethea raised her hand cautiously. "I can hack into the computers..."

Seifer and Bethe both looked toward her, staring with mirroring gazes of surprise at the brown-haired girl. Quistis didn't seem surprised; she instead offered a knowing smile. "Well," she said, "I guess your file doesn't lie nor embellish, Thea."

"You... can hack computers?" the blond boy questioned slowly, pointing a hesitant finger at Alethea. "Really?"

With a more confident half-smile, she fished a small, oblong-shaped item out of her pocket. It seemed to be some kind of mini flash drive. Holding it up to her colleague, she let the object answer his question.

Seeing that she wasn't bullshitting him, Seifer laughed and set a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, a floozy with smarts! Who would've thought?"

She sat down at what Bethe pointed out to be the main control panel of computers, already setting herself to work, tucking the flash drive into one of the available ports.

"Looks can be deceiving, you know," she said, without looking away from the screen as she began to type quickly, with expertise. "My technological abilities are an asset to SeeD." She paused briefly, as if remembering something. "Archer Locke and I were unstoppable as a team in practice runs. He knew circuits and the insides of machines; I knew software and programming. It's really such a shame that..." she finished with a soft sigh instead of her sentence.

Quistis averted her eyes, contemplating. "Yes; I remember that much from your reports..." Indeed, it would have been nice to see Archer as a SeeD alongside Alethea, to see the "Techie Two"—as nameless comrades had called them—in action on real missions. She also heard, more unofficially, that Archer was one of the very few boys who did not chase after the physically desirable Alethea from first glance, and that the brunette found it much easier to work with him because of that.

Uncomfortable with the serious subject matter, Seifer tried to make himself look busy, his eyes darting around for any non-computer-related clues. Bethe was already occupied with some abandoned files in the corner of the room.

It took only a moment before Alethea's violet eyes widened as she stared at the monitor. "Crap..." she murmured. "Um, Quistis," she said in stifled panic. She immediately pressed a few keys, making the walls of computer monitors come to life in order to show the rest of her team. "Something happened."

Quistis was immediately at her shoulder, peering at the screen curiously with her forehead wrinkled with anxiety. "What is it?" she asked warily. She was no good at reading whatever computer language the rookie was using, but she just had a sinking feeling that something was going wrong.

"They're overriding the system," the brunette explained with a frown, her typing becoming more furious and the worried but concentrated look on her face deepening. "It's as if... they knew someone was going to hack in and breach the program's security, and knew how to counter it."

"So?" Seifer asked, not really understanding the point of even a straightforward explanation.

Alethea pointed to a line of several nonsensical combinations of words, numbers, and punctuation marks with a manicured finger. "This indicates that I gained access, but it's not to REVOLUTION. It's a cover up. It led me somewhere else, which would be..." She typed in something, and another slew of coded words, numbers, and punctuation marks appeared. Heaving a sigh, Alethea leaned back in the chair, looking defeated. "... the electrical system of Deling City."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Seifer retorted questioningly. "The hell?"

Bethe scowled, suddenly thinking of something. "Fuck me if I'm wrong... but if they thought this far ahead, then your hacking is only a pawn in what's to come. They chose the electrical offices for a reason."

Alethea smiled grimly. "Great... because it looks like I lost control of this." She gestured to the screen, where strings of symbols began to rapidly appear line-by-line. "Whoever is counter-hacking this end of the network is—" She froze, suddenly seeing something on the screen. "—blacking out Deling City?"

"What?" Quistis spoke up urgently.

Alethea leaned forward again, her marring expression more worrisome than ever. "They're sneaking into the electrical system in Deling to knock out the entire city's power, but using this end of the computer networks as a base." She shook her head. "They're framing us."

"Well, that'll certainly be great for SeeD reputation," Bethe remarked humorlessly.

"You better not have had anything to do with it," Seifer snapped.

"With us keeping an eye on her the entire time," Quistis argued, giving Bethe the benefit of a doubt, "I don't know how she would be able to pull that off without thinking any of us are traitors, which is impossible."

"Relax," the redhead sighed, rolling her eyes. "I had nothing to do with it. But this is a pretty standard plan of action for the underground faction, so I would know what they'd do."

"We better head there, then," Seifer said, not relaxing any despite the reassurance. He eyed Bethe suspiciously. "If what this bitch says is true, then we better stop REVOLUTION before they start."

The ex-anarchist let out a low whistle. "Well, of course," she said, as if it was the most obvious thing he could say. And then, her expression darkened. "But granted, if they haven't carried out anything yet."

"They have," Alethea piped up somberly from her seat. During the conversation among Seifer, Bethe, and Quistis, she had been attempting to regain control of the technological battle, but to no avail. She stood up from the chair slowly, head lowered with a bit of misplaced guilt.

"Deling City has no power."

* * *

Selphie was the first to make her way to the mansion. She felt rather silly heading up the front door unannounced. What was she supposed to say? _"Heya, President Caraway, is Rinny home? I wanna play!"_

They weren't little kids. Selphie also didn't know how Caraway was going to handle a possessed Rinoa if she did come here.

That is, if he was alive. She prayed briefly to Hyne that Rinoa didn't take any drastic measures in getting her father to leave her alone.

She rang the doorbell.

After a minute or so, the door was opened a crack by who she assumed was a housekeeper. A plump, middle-aged woman holding a feathered duster peered through the door, examining Selphie. "May I help you?" she asked warily. "If you are looking for President Caraway, he doesn't currently reside here. He lives in the presidential building."

"Oh, no, no!" Selphie interjected, waving her hands dismissively. "I'm looking for my friend Rinoa Heartilly! We're friends from Garden!" She bit her lip, realizing how much of a nervous ramble her words came out.

"You're SeeD," the woman assumed, her skeptical blue eyes watching her. "You look familiar. From the interviews on TV, yes?"

"Uh, I guess...?" Selphie said weakly. "But that's beside the point, ma'am. I wanna know if Rinoa's—"

"What is your business with her?" the housekeeper inquired.

"Well, she's SeeD," the Trabian replied fakely. "And we require her assistance on some missions, but we, um, well, lost her."

"If she's home, then I didn't notice," the housekeeper said airily, seemingly more accepting of the SeeD's abrupt appearance. "She does still have the key to this place, after all. If you are truly who you say you are, then I will allow you to check her bedroom."

"Really?" Selphie uttered, bewildered. She actually didn't expect to be trusted so soon, but whatever made things go by a little faster. At that, she beamed, truly appreciative. "Thanks!"

The door opened wider to let her through, and she bounded merrily into the mansion, saluting cheerfully.

"You know where it is, correct?" the woman's voice piped up again, saying it as if it was some kind of test of authenticity.

"I think I still remember," Selphie reassured her, skipping up the stairs. When the woman finally let her be, the Trabian uttered huge, but hopefully not too loud, sigh of relief. Landing at the second floor with jump of gusto, she ventured to where she recalled Rinoa's room was, just _hoping_ the SeeD was there; it would make this mission go by a lot easier... not that it was going to get any easier with the PF thing and all...

She found the door shut, and a big, bracing breath, she knocked. "Rinny?" she called. "It's Selphie! Listen, some weirdo stuff is going on back at Garden, and we need to ensure that you're like, all right. And stuff!"

Selphie inwardly cringed at her own words. She wasn't very convincing, was she? Squall would've probably done a better job than her...

In any case, there was no answer, and Selphie was itching to see into the room for herself. "If you're naked, I'm sorry!" she hollered through the door. "I'll close my eyes!" Squeezing her pools of emerald shut, she fumbled for the doorknob and turned it.

Neither hearing nor feeling any form of protest, Selphie cautiously parted her shield of slim fingers, peeking through them.

The room was empty. The mansion was a dead end. There was no Rinoa. Hell, the bed looked like it hadn't been touched in months. The curtains were closed, and looked like they haven't opened in a long, long time.

Selphie set her hands frustratedly on her hips and let out an exasperated huff of breath. _(Now what?)_

She had no choice but to inform her group members and then move on to the next town. The brunette took out her radio from her back pocket, ready to contact Squall and Dev, but suddenly...

Everything around her went black.

Whatever other electronic devices were running in the household suddenly turned off, letting out dying sighs. The air conditioning abruptly shut down with an airy moan and a click.

_(What the heck... a blackout?)_

Before she could properly react, she felt a rush of wind as the door behind her slammed shut and locked. Immediately, Selphie whirled around, her hands shooting out to feel frantically against the door.

_(Who..?)_

"Hey..." she called out. "What's going on? Ms. Housekeeper Ma'am?"

_(She locked me in? No way! She was totally cool with me..)_

"Ms. Housekeeper?"

It was silent on the other side. Either the Caraway mansion was haunted or something hugely suspicious was going on.

A sudden creak from outside caught her attention. She immediately whipped her head around. No sooner did she realize that she was ill-equipped. She hadn't expected an actual outage in the grand capital of Deling. Resource-wise, it was a relatively stable place. And now, she was without flashlight, without matches or lighters, and without any good sense of where anything useful (like a window, for example) was in the room. She had no choice but to feel around.

But before Selphie took the chance to move, she heard something she wasn't supposed to hear.

"SeeD in the sorceress' bedroom, Rhiannon, sir," the housekeeper whispered, her voice dropping low and sinister from the pleasant alto she had earlier. "One of the top-ranked girls from the second Sorceress War. And she's all yours."

_(What? Rhiannon?... Sir?)_ she thought urgently. _(That means...)_

Selphie gulped and kept very still. Never had she ever faced the head honcho of an enemy group by herself before, and while she grew strong in her travels and adventures, she was not entirely confident on being able to take Rade Rhiannon by herself. She had to contact Squall and Dev—quickly.

First, she had to gauge the range of the so-called housekeeper; and possibly Rade himself. Selphie put her ear to the door, listening for sounds of footsteps or distancing voices. Footfalls heavier than her own descended calmly down the stairs. The Trabian had to assume it was that woman. She imagined Rade to be much heavier and tougher in his gait. So, it couldn't be him.

After deciding that she was out of earshot, Selphie grabbed her radio from her belt and turned it on. Even in the event of a power failure, at least she had this to rely on.

"Squally?" she called in a whisper. "Can you hear me?"

The radio crackled softly. And after a bit of static, his voice came through the device. "Selphie? Are you all right? The city blacked out."

"Yeah, I know," she hissed. "But, uh... listen. I'm in the mansion."

"Already—"

"But I'm... locked in," she cut in quickly. "The housekeeper is a fake. She's part of REVOLUTION and she's calling—"

She suddenly halted her words. She heard something in the room settle. Or was it the sound of something opening? It couldn't be the door—she was facing it, and the sound came from somewhere behind her.

"Selphie?" the commander spoke up, his tone growing hard. "What happened?"

The brunette swiveled her head around, in the direction of the suspicious noise. She was more defensive than scared; it wasn't like she was expecting the boogeyman to come out and snatch her. She did know, however, that she was no longer alone.

And that fact was all too obvious when she felt something hard slam suddenly against her head. Before she could get a grasp of what had just happened, she fell forward, the impact against her much smaller frame incredibly painful as she roughly hit ground. Her radio was knocked out of her hand. It tumbled unceremoniously to some distance in the darkness.

She didn't know what socked her, but now her head was ringing from the increasing pain. Her vision was swimming, nauseatingly, and everything thereafter became a blur. Her hands flailed around, feebly finding carpet as she struggled to regain her footing. But Selphie could not, for the life of her, gravitate herself back to a steady mindset.

In the midst of the vertigo, something—or more accurately, someone—pulled at her hair, forcing her to a lying position. Selphie found herself face up, staring up at the darkened ceiling. Her nunchaku pressed painfully against her back. Despite the wooziness in her head, she haphazardly twisted her arm around behind her, in an attempt to maneuver the weapon out of its holster. She could hear someone breathing above her, hovering over her body. Her actions became futile as strong, powerful legs began to straddle her, trapping her underneath the much more massive human form.

"Silence," she heard the person whisper. A male voice, a rasp that was dangerous and arrogant.

Rade Rhiannon.

Calloused fingers of one hand swiftly gathered her wrists, violently pinning them above her head in a vice-like hold. She couldn't even struggle now, unable to move even her legs.

The bright white beam of a flashlight shined on her face, temporarily blinding her. She squeezed her eyes shut, ready to verbally get at her attacker, but nothing came out of her throat. Her lips parted, but there was no sound. Only air. Her voice was gone. It took her that second to realize that his single word was more than just an angry command; he had actually used the spell, disabling the Trabian from using magic or her GFs. And unfortunately for her, she was ill-equipped; she could not cure it. She only brought a few potions with her, not expecting to come across an encounter like this.

To put it bluntly, she was defenseless.

_(OhHyneohHyneohHyne...)_ she repeated in her head with crippling dread. Her emerald eyes were wide with fear of the man with her, but she could barely make out his figure looming over her. Muted, she couldn't cry out for help, nor could she answer Squall's curious, but concerned calls on the radio.

"Selphie! Are you there?" his voice was growing more worried the more he yelled through the receiver. "Selph?"

_(Squall! Save me! Please!)_

She heard popping from the radio, in response to her silent cries, and then a click. He had hung up. She didn't know if he got the hint that she was in trouble, or assumed that it was simple interference. But either way, she needed him more than ever.

Her heart twisted sorely, aching worse than the searing pain in her head.

"So where are your comrades, Sweetheart?" her foe, Rade Rhiannon, asked mockingly, fully aware that she couldn't audibly respond. He grinned wickedly, the flashlight in his hand daring to trail down her body. In the darkness, he looked extra sinister, the shadows caused by the small light making him seem more evil in an inhuman way.

Selphie's stomach curled in repugnance. She suddenly felt exposed. Her normal outfit, the attire she has grown so accustomed to, seemed more scandalous.

"Seems we were both lookin' for that sorceress," he went on more nonchalantly. "But we both came 'pon a dead end. Too bad."

She glared abhorrently at him and squirmed, wanting more than anything to beat the living daylights out of the anarchist leader.

"But I think I can still take a little something for the road." His weight still on her legs and midsection, he suddenly released his hold on her wrists, resulting in an instant backlash from the girl. She instinctively flailed her arms, using them to beat at his chest, even if it wasn't enough to help her escape.

Nonplussed, he reached out with one hand, aiming straight for her throat. Selphie immediately batted it away, disgusted, but the man wasn't done. He shot his hand out again, but this time, with much faster reflexes as he wrapped his fingers around her neck. Her breathed hitched at the cold, uncaring contacted, the pressure against her neck not enough to kill her, but enough to create great discomfort. The flashlight he was holding in his other hand suddenly dropped, the item in his hand rolling away. It illuminated some other, random part of the room. That same hand managed to again pin her wrists against the ground, holding them out of the way.

Selphie's fear only increased exponentially. She couldn't see what Rade was going to do. The darkness only made the room feel smaller, and she felt more suffocated by it than by the grip against her throat.

Thin, scarred lips grazed along the outer curve of her ear. She shivered in blind fear, and then stiffened, wishing that she was anywhere but there in that mansion. His touch felt like poison; every fiber of her body wanted to repel this terrible man.

"Wanna scream?" he asked in a playful growl. "Who's gonna hear you?"

_(Squall!) _she wanted to screech to the radio somewhere beyond her reach. _(Squall! HELP ME!)_

How she wished this moment was as surreal as her visions of Irvine; her imagination. Hell, she even wished it was a nightmare. It could be horrific, but she would know she could wake up from it. She had woken up from mourning her childhood friend, as rough as that time had been, she had, at least, gotten back to reality.

But now, it wasn't her imagination anymore. And there was no other reality she could wake up to.

It was real. Frighteningly real.

* * *

_Hello, hiatus. Ugh. Well, sorry for such a long wait on this chapter, but I really had difficulty with direction for the end of the story and what scenes I wanted in this chapter. Moreover, my fanaticism for this couple faded a bit (to make room for other ones in different series, lol), but I still plan on finishing. Just have faith and stay along for the ride. :3 I'll get it done. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your patience and support!_

_I think there's... 3-4 more chapters of this. I hope. I have better idea of where I want to go, and how to close things, so... hopefully the waits aren't as painfully long._

_I only ran through my personal editing process a few times, so if there are any mistakes, sorry. Once I (or you) spot something, I'll make sure it gets fixed as soon as possible._

_I sort of modeled Alethea after someone; an actress. One of those guys-love-her-but-girls-don't kind. More likeable, though. I wonder if you can tell who it is. Heh.  
_

_Also. Apologies to Selphie. orz  
_


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